1862 is a landmark in both modern Greek history and art.
Colour Study of the Allegorical Figures following the Chariot (the "Fortune", the "Industry", the "Trade" the "Crafts) and "Bavaria" (1895/1899) by Gyzis NikolaosNational Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Though the dethronement of King Othon brought an end to the Bavarian rule of Greece, in art a new period of “Bavarianism” began with the triumphant arrival of Greek artistic life of the major representative of the mature School of Munich:
Nikephoros Lytras (1832 - 1904), Nikolaos Gysis (1842 -1901), Georgios Iakovidis (1853 - 1932), Konstantinos Volanakis (1837 - 1907) and many other painters.
Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (ca 1886) by Lytras NikephorosNational Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
1862 also marked the end of a fruitful twenty-year period at the School of Arts, under the directorship of the brilliant architect Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (1811 - 1885).
The students who distinguished themselves at the School of Arts during the Kaftantzoglou period (1844-1862) became outstanding teachers and founders of modern Greek art.
The Betrothal of the Children (1877) by Gyzis NikolaosNational Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Genre painting, the epitome of bourgeois taste since the time it developed in the Netherlands in the 17th century, was a prestigious preference of the new urban class that arose during the time of Charilaos Trikoupis.
Portrait of Marianthi L. Charilaou (ca 1895 - 1900) by Lytras NikephorosNational Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
A form of portraiture for the haute bourgeoisie also achieve
Bourgeois portraiture was addressed to a higher social class noted for its advanced urban taste, considerable refinement, contacts with Europe and a completely different lifestyle.
Still life, the bourgeois genre par excellence, as well as the nude became part of the thematic repertoire of the mature phase of Greek academicism.
Collecting the Nets (1871) by Volanakis ΚonstantinosNational Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
Sea painting, especially by Konstantinos Volanakis, prevails in landscape art.
At the Chinese Tower in Munich (1915) by Savvidis SymeonNational Gallery of Greece - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
At the same time, there emerged a genuine plein air painting, marked by free brushstrokes, color and light; this plein-airism transmitted the image of a fluid and changeable world, where there were no certainties beyond the feelings of an individual at a specific moment.
Texts: Marina Lampraki-Plaka, Professor Emeritus of the History of Art, ex-Director, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Project leader: Efi Agathonikou, Head of Collections Department, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Images: Stavros Psiroukis & Thalia Kimpari, Photographic Studio, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Digital curation: Marina Tomazani, Art Historian, Curator, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum
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