80. ELENI STATHOPOULOU (1914-2016) Art & décoration

Description

80. ELENI STATHOPOULOU (1914-2016) Nu signé en grec (en bas à droite) huile et fusain sur toile 60 x 73 cm. (23.62 × 28.74 in.) Peint c. 1946-1949 Provenance Estate of the artist. Exhibitions Athens, National Library of Greece, Eleni Stathopoulou 1914-2016, The Geometry of Colours, October 18, 2020 - January 5, 2021, no. 32 (mentioned, p. 28, and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, p. 115). A restless mind and a free spirit, Eleni Stathopoulou was a pioneering modernist who fled to Paris in 1945 aboard the historic RMS Mataroa alongside a generation of Greek intellectual vanguards, to immerse herself in the aims and aspirations of the international avant-garde. During her years in Paris (1945-1949) she studied under the legendary cubist André Lhote and embarked on a quest for originality and reinvention of ideas and forms. As noted by art historian S. Moschonas, Stathopoulou evolved into Cubism gradually. Her striking nudes that evoke Modigliani or, more frequently, Matisse—such as the Nude [included in this auction]—likely represent the intermediate link from her Cezannesque endeavours towards mastering a style which, thanks to its rich and luminous colour, alludes to the vibrant canvases of Lhote.1 1 : See S. Moschonas, "Shapes, Rhythms, and Colours in the Chests of Oblivion" in Eleni Stathopoulou 1914-2016, The Geometry of Colours, exhibition catalogue, Athens 2020, p. 28.