Savvidis Symeon

He got his general education at the Commercial School of Chalki and in 1878 came to Athens where, for two years, he attended classes at the Architectural School of the National Technical School. In 1880, with the financial assistance of the Greek Stephanos Zafeiropoulos, he went to Munich and enrolled in the Academy. For seven years he studied painting with professors Julius Benczur, Ludwig von Lofftz, Wilhelm von Diez and Nikolaos Gyzis, who also became a close friend.

He remained in the Bavarian capital until 1925, at the same time taking trips to Constantinople, Tokat, Samsun and Athens. During this period he maintained his own studio, became a member of the Kunstverein Luitpoldgruppe and developed a wealth of artistic activities, participating in exhibitions at the Glaspalast, as well as the international exhibitions of Munich (1901), Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, Vienna, Paris (1900) and London (1895) where he won the silver medal. He also took part in the Artistic Exhibition of Athens in 1899 and in exhibitions at the Parnassos and Zappeion Halls, while in 1931, four years after his death, the Lyceum Club of Greek Women organized a large retrospective exhibition of his work.

By nature restless and with a variety of interests he was involved with the study of ancient monuments, with problems of a philosophical and ethical content, as well as with geology, physiology, medicine and meteorology, indeed developing a theory for weather prediction based on the colors of the dawn and sunset. These thoughts he mentions in an unpublished manuscript written in German and called, Έργα και πάρεργα (Works and Hobbies). But what he was most involved with his whole life long was the study of color and the formulation of a theory related to the warm, cool and complementary colors, which became known by word of mouth and was particularly esteemed by his contemporaries.

Scenes of everyday life and landscapes, which dominate his artistic creation, are the subjects which assist him in applying his theories related to color and light. He was also interested in still life and portraiture, while his scenes from the Middle East, which were inspired by his trips to Constantinople and Asia Minor, were in the style of the Orientalists.