60. CONSTANTINOS MALEAS (1879-1928) Art & décoration

Description

60. CONSTANTINOS MALEAS (1879-1928) Buisson/ Plage au Liban signé « Maleas » (en bas à droite) huile sur carton dur 29 x 40 cm. (11.42 × 15.75 in.) Provenance D. Staikos collection, Athens. (from A. Kotidis, The Painter C. Maleas). M. Daikos collection, Athens. (from label on the reverse) Private collection, Athens. Exhibitions Constantinople, C. Maleas, November-December 1910 (possibly). Athens, Parnassos Literary Society Exhibition Hall, Exhibition of Paintings by C. Maleas, October 22 - November 1917 (possibly). Athens, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Constantinos Maleas, April 14 - July, 1980, no. 45 (listed in the exhibition catalogue, p. 45). Literature A. Kotidis, The Painter C. Maleas (1879-1928), doctoral dissertation, Thessaloniki 1982, p. 64 (discussed), p. 82 (mentioned), p. 247, no. 45 (catalogued), fig. 2.31 (illustrated). A. Kotidis, Constantinos Maleas (1879-1928), Adam editions, Athens 2000, p. 71 (discussed), p. 92 (mentioned), p, 327, no. 60 (catalogued), p. 68, fig. 35 (illustrated). As noted by Professor A. Kotidis who wrote the artist's monograph, "Buisson-Plage au Liban" is Maleas's first work in which the process of transforming natural shapes into pictorial forms becomes clear. As the painter's brushstrokes unfold into bands of colour, we perceive a gradual intensification of tones as they advance toward the background, allowing them to project with at least the same vividness as in the foreground. This essentially eliminates the illusion of depth and unifies the planes across the pictorial surface. Later on, this approach would evolve into a signature trait of Maleas's mature style."1 In 1908, Maleas started a series of journeys to the Near East and in 1910 he visited Lebanon, in quest of the land's unique character and alluring atmosphere. With works such as the present lot, where the subject serves as a pretext for the artist to induce an emotional response, Greek Orientalism, as represented after 1870 by the paintings of Gysis, Lytras, Ralli and Sabbides, takes on a completely different direction. Here, the Orient is rendered through the eyes of a dedicated modern painter, like Matisse, Macke or Klee who also travelled to the Near East roughly the same time as Maleas. The artist's trip to Lebanon essentially ushered in a new evolutionary stage, during which Greek painting engaged in productive discourse with the avant-garde trends of early 20th-century European art. 1 : A. Kotidis, Constantinos Maleas [in Greek], Adam editions, Athens 2000, p. 71.