Orestis Kanellis was born in Smyrna and died in Athens.

He studied for two years at the Medical school of the University of Athens, then abandoned his medical education and moved to the ‘capital of light’, Paris where he had free studies in painting, mainly at the Academia de la Grande Chaumiere.

In Paris Kanellis met Stratis Eleftheriades Teriade, a fan of his work and George Gounaropoulos who taught him a lot on the art of painting.

His subject matter is mainly landscape with emphasis on olive trees and calm seascapes. The beauty and charm of young faces, especially those emotionally scarred by the German Occupation, influenced his work. In his portraits of children and women, he paints in an expressionistic manner; while the mood in his landscapes is poetic and lyrical, as observed by Odysseas Elytis. His fascination with the warm light of the East is deposited in his works: on the shores and small boats, the olive trees, the young boys and girls that are self-illuminated by that same light.

He exhibited his work in many solo shows in Greece and participated in group exhibitions abroad such as at the Venice Biennale (1934); the ‘Griekisk Konst’, Konstakademien, Stockholm (1947); the Alexandria Biennale (1954) and the ‘Peinture Grecque Contemporaine’, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1964). Additionally, he exhibited his work in New York (1958 and 1960); Lugano (1962); Zagreb (1962); Moscow (1962) and Cyprus (1970).

His work is in many public and private collections in Greece and Cyprus: notably at the National Gallery of Greece, the Athens Municipality Collection, the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, the National Bank of Greece and the Leventis Gallery.