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A student of K. Parthenis at the Athens School of Fine
Arts, he also studied with F. Kontoglou and D. Pikionis,
after which he goes to Paris in 1935, and produces his
first major works at the end of the 30’s. The influences
of Pompey’s frescoes, Fayoum or Byzantium, Theophilos
and Karayozis, Renaissance and also Baroque as well as
Matisse of Baroque work together within his art in a
unique way, to give us pictures with man at their center.
Figures which are sometimes realistic, sometimes
idealized sometimes effusively decorated, and always
with the unique stamp which makes the works of the great
artists who have something important to say, stand out
from the rest. These unique features are present in the
three works displayed in Municipal Art Gallery, Two
Friends (1938), Basketball Player (1949) and the
Squadron Leader, created in the period 1950-51. In all
three, what strikes one most is the active role played
by the masses of color, which prepare for the frontal
treatment of the subject. Together with this, the way in
which shapes and forms are set out on the canvas gives
it an introverted dimension, in which are described the
features of the faces. These, in accordance with the
habit of the artist, are male figures rendered with
characteristic realism, as can be seen mainly in the
latter works. Here, the individual features of the
figures are emphasized. The design in based on masses of
color, with linear strikes to stress the outline. The
resultant form confirms the power of the artist to
express his thoughts and his ideological relationship
with art itself, together with the inborn feeling and
understanding he has for his native country. Tsarouhis
does not reject anything out of hand, but uses
everything which moves him as part of his work. |