Vyzantios Periclis

At the age of nineteen he went to Munich with the aim of studying law but soon departed for Paris where he studied at the School of Fine Arts and the Julian Academy. In the French capital he met important artists such as Juan Gris and Kees van Dongen. He returned to Greece and in 1921-1922, took part in the Asia Minor campaign, depicting war scenes, which were lost during the retreat, and which had previously been exhibited at the Zappeion Hall and in Smyrna.

He was one of the founding members of the “Art Group” and participated in its exhibitions (1919, 1920, 1930) and, in 1938, the “League of Greek Painters” of which he was elected President. In 1928 he participated in the organization of the art club “Atelier”, the subsequent “House of Letters and Arts”, while in 1934 with the painter Aleka Stylou he founded the first private school of painting in Athens which operated up to the German occupation. In 1939 he was appointed director of the branches of the School of Fine Arts in Hydra and Delphi.

In addition to painting he was also involved with caricature and set design, working as a set designer for the National Theater from 1930 on. His exhibition activity also included participation in Panhellenies between 1938-1965, the Venice Biennale of 1934 and the International Exhibition of Paris in 1937, as well as solo shows (Stratigopoulos gallery 1927, 1930, 1939, Studio 1934, 1937, Zygos 1958, 1964, National Gallery 1972). Posthumous retrospectives of his work have been presented at the National Gallery (1984) and the Melas Mansion (1994).

His early works show the influences of the French artistic tradition, mainly scenes of life in an urban environment, but portraits as well, while later he did depictions of landscape which show color sensitivity, the emphasis placed on the changeable and momentary.