Lefakis Christos

He studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1923-1930), graduating from the workshop of Konstantinos Parthenis. From 1930 to 1958 he worked with the Archaeological Service as an artistic advisor and designer. In the same official capacity he also worked for the Directorate of Historical Monuments and Archaeology during the period 1943-1956, at the same time taking part in many excavations and archaeological investigations. These investigations resulted in a wealth of drawings, which were published in archaeological journals and books. Moreover, on a scholarship from the Italian state, he observed the methods of preservation and cleaning of wall paintings, mosaics, icons, documents and papyri in Italian workshops. In 1962, he was elected professor to the seat of Painting in the Department of the Visual Arts in the Technical School of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, and was an important teacher.

A member of the Spirit-Level and Workshop groups, he presented his work in their exhibitions as well as in solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, such as the Biennales of Alexandria in 1958, Sao Paolo in 1961 and Venice in 1968, where his works were presented just a few months after his death. In 1989 retrospective exhibitions were organized at the National Gallery and the Vellidio Cultural Center of Thessaloniki.

After starting out with figurative depictions done in an academic style, he moved on in his painting to abstract forms with an expressionistic character, experimenting at the same time with the use of various materials and the results achieved with them on a painting surface. Later he moved into lyrical abstraction and, in a few cases, adopted monochromy, while in his final works he combined figurative and abstract depictions. Along with his painting he also was involved with mosaic, fresco, glass etching, engraving and drawing; he moreover painted icons and made copies of wall paintings and mosaics from the Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki which he exhibited in 1953. Furthermore, he designed furniture and objects of everyday use, as well as posters and book covers and published articles and studies on art.