45. CONSTANTINOS PARTHENIS (1878-1967) Art & décoration

Description

45. CONSTANTINOS PARTHENIS (1878-1967) L' Annonciation signé « C. Parthenis » (en bas au centre) huile sur toile 95 x 90 cm. (37.40 × 35.43 in.) Provenance Bernard Marmont du Haut Champ collection, Milan. Private collection, Athens. "Annunciation is Parthenis's silent oratorio. Only a great artist can offer such gifts to humankind." Z. Papantoniou A masterpiece of 20th century European art, Parthenis's Annunciation is a mesmerizing work of timeless elegance. Ethereal, idealised and weightless figures captured in translucent colours and feathery forms, occupy a purified world of universal peace and divine harmony, conveying an uplifting feel and provoking the viewer's emotional and spiritual participation. With its masterful design, deeply poetic atmosphere, abstractive stylisation of dematerialised form and audacious sense of newness, Annunciation lies at the very core of Parthenis's achievement. It beautifully reflects the vision of a great European artist laden with age-old memories, who was entranced by the optimism and boldness of the nascent twentieth century. Annunciation introduces a significant iconographic innovation: rather than a lily, Archangel Gabriel is holding a lyre modelled after depictions on ancient Greek vases—a direct reference to classical antiquity, that asserts Parthenis's view of the unbroken continuity of Greek civilization. As noted by Professor E.D. Matthiopoulos in his monograph on the artist, "in the iconography of Annunciation, I am aware of no precedent in which Gabriel appears as a musician, except for the Annunciation by the utopian neo-romantic German artist Heinrich Vogeler ...Yet, in terms of form and style Parthenis's lyre is, I believe, modelled after the figure of Poetry with a lyre in Gustav Klimt's famed Beethoven Frieze, which went on display in the Secession Building in Vienna in 1902 ... The importance ascribed by Parthenis to the lyre/music is additionally highlighted by the use of gold or silver leaf applications, which lends the instrument a heavenly glow, so that it stands out against the undertone composition."7 This highly original iconographic deviation also alludes to the Orphic roots of Christianity as part of fin-de-siècle theosophical beliefs, which viewed Orpheus as one of humankind's great spiritual initiators. A recurrent subject in Parthenis's art, Orpheus is one of the most resonant figures in Greek mythology. His lyre was a gift from his father, and he was taught the art of playing by the muses themselves. The tradition relates that when Orpheus played his lyre, the wild beasts grew tame, the fish came out of the water and even the trees turned towards him. The lyre-holding angel also alludes to a direct association between the divine word with music. The salutation of the Virgin Mary, announcing the immaculate conception of the Son of God, is delivered in the language of music. Both figures seem enraptured by this celestial melody, while the surrounding architectural structures, with their immaterial volumes, graceful lines and melodious forms, look as if they follow the sound of music, irresistibly submitting to the word of God and accentuating the overall feel of spiritual uplift. In such an evocative setting charged with timeless references, the winged figure, tenderly tenderly plucking the strings and filling the space with the sounds of colour, becomes identified with the idea of music as a lofty symbol of universal order, harmony, and peace. Parthenis himself was an ardent lover of classical music who had studied and played the violin, regularly attending concerts and recitals with his wife, Julia, an accomplished opera singer. Laden with spiritual values, lofty ideals and timeless visions, Parthenis's Annunciation is a highly original masterpiece that recapitulates the lifelong quests of a great European master. Every compositional element is rendered by means of the painter's distinct visual vocabulary: a restricted palette, dematerialised shapes, masterful design and a diluted, translucent application of paint. Austere, yet delicate lines anchor the compositional structure, while curvilinear forms create a suggestive atmosphere of linear elegance and diffuse idealism. Every inch of the pictorial surface demonstrates how masterfully the painter exploited the essentially expressive nature of his repertoire to offer a deeply poetic, idealised experience. 1 : See Pinakothiki journal, January 1904, p. 224. 2 : See C. Christou, Constantinos Parthenis, Vienna, Paris, Athens, Foundation for Hellenic Culture, Athens 1995, p. 108. 3 : See E. Georgiadou-Kountoura, The Religious Work of Parthenis [in Greek], Thessaloniki, 1983, pp. 45-46. 4 : See A. Kotidis, Modernism and Tradition in the Greek Art of the Interwar Period [in Greek], Thessaloniki 1993, pp. 128-129. 5 : Holy paintings thought to have been created without the intervention of human hand. 6 : See S. Lydakis, "The Stylistic Evolution of Constantinos Parthenis" [in Greek], Zygos magazine, no. 50, November-December 1981, p. 20. 7 : E.D. Matthiopoulos, "The Archangel's Lyre" in Constantinos Parthenis, Painting an Ideal Greece, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens 2022, pp. 41, 42.