04 |
Greek, 1910-1999
Landscape with Pine trees I & II
watercolour on paper
I. signed and dated 79 lower left
28 x 22 cm
II. signed and dated 79 lower right
22 x 28 cm
PROVENANCE
private collection, Athens
1 500 / 2 000 € | |
Andreas Vourloumis was born in Patras in 1910, the second son of a well-to-do family of merchants and politicians who moved to Athens in 1918.Â
As a young boy, he had his first painting lessons from Antoine Pik, a French painter living in Athens. Later he studied chemistry and graduated with distinction but during this time painted regularly in his free time.
In 1933, after completing his studies, he left for the French capital where he stayed for the next two years. There he had painting lessons at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and other art schools. During his time in Paris, he was overwhelmed by Durer's drawings, Rembrandt's canvases and the work of Paul Cezanne.
Vourloumis’ work is a collection of impressions. His subject matter is associated with the world immediate to him; people, streets, interiors, everyday objects, the Greek nature. He uses colour as an effective entity which has its expressiveness and poetry. His work is charged with a restrained sensibility never smartening up its subject matter. In his paintings he pays equal respect to human figures, space (whether indoors or outdoors) and objects.
In his watercolours, the artist trains his eye to seek out the significance of what is fugitive. The white background is usually an intentional area which activates the composition. Empty spaces are equal to painted surfaces, and shadows are absent, everything is rhythmic.
His work is found in many public and private collections, notably: The National Gallery, Athens, the Athens Municipal Gallery, the National Bank of Greece, the Benaki Museum and the Leventis Gallery.