64. 64AR ALEXIS AKRITHAKIS (1939-1994) Art & décoration

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64. 64AR ALEXIS AKRITHAKIS (1939-1994) Quatre histoires signé « Akrithakis » (au centre à gauche), signé et daté « 30.1.77/ 80 x 100 cm / Akrithakis / Athénes » (au dos) huile sur toile 80 x 100 cm. (31.50 × 39.37 in.) Provenance Christie's Greek Sale of 29 April 1996, lot 131. Acquired from the above sale by the present owner. I make stories with pictures. A. Akrithakis A charismatic image maker, Akrithakis invites us to an enchanting world of bold shapes and striking colours endowed with a dreamy quality and childlike wonder. "A rousing cheerfulness emanates from his images—an infectious cheerfulness inviting us to enter a multi-coloured amusement park whose brilliant lights set off emotions."1 As noted by A. Papazacharias who co-curated the artist's recent retrospective at the Benaki Museum, "Akrithakis's stories represent an iconic approach to pictorial narrative, executed with a geometry that simultaneously delineates space and time. Within these stories, recurring symbols and motifs are transformed into eloquent statements through a process akin to both comic book strips and dictionary entries."2 Evincing a rich and highly imaginative myth-making skill, this captivating work includes Akrithakis's signature image—his emblematic suitcase—that conveys the artist's escapist fantasies and lifetime quest for adventure and freedom.3 1 : C. Joachimides, "Wonderings of a Daydreamer" [in Greek] in Akrithakis, exhibition catalogue, Goethe Institute, Athens 1968. 2 : A. Papazacharias, "Analysis by Sight" in Alexis Akrithakis, a Line Wave [in Greek], exhibition catalogue, Benaki Museum, Athens 2026, p. 15. 3 : See D. Zacharopoulos, "An Unexpected Glimmer over the Abyss or the Artistic Oeuvre of Alexis Aktrithakis", in Alexis Akrtithakis, exhibition catalogue, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin 2003, p. 143.