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20
Frixos ARISTEFS
Greek, 1879-1951

Jesus Christ, The Great Τeacher
pencil on paper

signed lower left
36 x 27 cm


PROVENANCE

private collection, Athens


LITERATURE

Frixos Aristefs, Autobiography, Athens, 1955, after p. 48 (illustrated), p. 8, 99 (mentioned), p. 107 (discussed)


1 500 / 2 000 €

Frixos Aristefs in his Autobiography discusses the work Jesus Christ, The Great Τeacher in pages 106 and 107:

 

‘ Κατά την πολεμικήν  αυτήν εποχήν μοιραίως η σκέψις μου ασχολείται με την μοίραν της ανθρωπότητος. Ενώ ο Χρίστος έχυσε το αίμα του υπέρ της ειρήνης και εκήρυξε παντού το «αγαπάτε αλλήλους» η ανθρωπότης ωθούμενη από μερικούς σατανάδες, δεν παύει ν’αλληλοσπαράσσεται παρέχουσα θέαμα οικτρόν. Οί διαλογισμοί αυτοί μου ενέπνευσαν κατά την διάρκειαν του προηγουμένου πολέμου δύο πίνακάς μου: Ο πρώτος εξ αυτών είναι ο «Μέγας Διδάσκαλος» εις τον οποίον παριστάνω τον Χριστόν σταυρωμένον επί του δένδρου της ειρήνης, επί της ελαίας δηλ. Οι κλώνοι της σχηματίζουν λύραν, συμβολίζοντες ούτω την μουσικότητα και την γλυκύτητα της Χριστιανικής διδασκαλίας, ενώ οι ρίζες της έχουν εξαπλωθή είς όλην την ανθρωπότητα, ήτις κλίνει γόνυ πρό του Μεγάλου Διδασκάλου, τιμώσα και προσκυνούσα αυτόν. ‘

 


 

Frixos Aristefs was born in Athens in 1879.

 

He enrolled at the School of Fine Arts, where he studied painting, from 1892 till 1897 under Constantinos Volanakis, Georgios Roilos, Nikiforos Lytras and Spyros Prossalentis.

 

He continued his studies in Munich at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts with Nikolaos Gysis and Franz von Stuck, between 1897 and 1900. He spent the next year in Florence before returning permanently to Greece in 1901.

 

Aristefs worked on lithography, cartoons and illustrations for publications and as an art teacher in secondary education. His subject matter included landscape, portrait, religious and symbolic works.

 

He is one of the representatives of the ‘Munich School’, but most importantly he is one of few Greek artists that were influenced from ‘Jugendstil’ (Youth Style) that was in vogue during his time in the Bavarian capital. His inclination towards Jugendstil was certainly influenced by the work of both his teachers in Munich, Nikolaos Gysis and Franz von Stuck and he is considered one of the main representatives of this movement in Greece.

 

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