Saint George and the Death / The joust

Dimitrios Biskinis’ inspiration for Saint George and the Death came from a poem of the same title by his lifelong friend, Georgios Drosinis.

The artist deconstructs the beautiful tone of the work and introduces a symbolic demonism that results in a magical, strange mystery; The work is an allegory that expresses the triumph of good over evil.

A variation of this work of larger scale (75 x124 cm), belonging to a private Greek collection, is illustrated in Stelios Lydakis’, The Greek Artists, Volume 3, Melissa Publishing House, page 403.

Dimitris Biskinis was born in Patras, and in 1900 he moved to Athens with his family.

A year later he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts, where he studied painting, as a young boy, from 1901 till 1903 and then from 1906 till 1911 under Constantinos Volanakis, Dimitrios Geraniotis, Georgios Jakobides and Georgios Roilos.

Biskinis is considered to be the leading representative of the Greek Symbolism movement. His work is imaginative and evolves into the romantic style of Jugendstil inspired by Greek history, culture and customs.

He is relatively unknown with regards to his significant contribution to the graphic arts in Greece. He also worked on uniquely inspired religious icons greatly praised by Polychronis Lembessis.

After fighting in the Balkan Wars, in 1914, he won the Averoff prize along with a scholarship to study in Paris. The First World War delayed his move to Paris until 1919, at which time he finally enrolled at the Académie Julian.

In 1922 and 1923 while in Paris, he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français. There he moved amongst the circle of other Greek artists such as Apostolos Geralis and Georgios Gounaropoulos.

In 1929, a year after Biskinis' return to Greece he was appointed a professor of decorative arts and perspective at the School of Fine Arts, Athens, while towards the end of his life he held the position of vice head of the school.

Throughout his life, he was a close friend of Kostis Palamas and Georgios Drossinis. Both of these great men devoted many poems to Biskinis.

His work is found in the National Gallery of Greece, the Municipal Gallery of Athens, the Municipal Gallery of Rhodes, the Leventis Gallery and many public and private collections.