Panagiotis Tetsis was born on the island of Hydra in 1925 and settled with his family in Piraeus in 1937.

In 1940 he had his first drawing lessons from the German painter Klaus Frieslander and three years later enrolled at the School of Fine Arts, Athens. There he was taught firstly by Dimitris Biskinis and Pavlos Mathiopoulos and later by Constantinos Parthenis, graduating in 1949.

Between 1953 and 1956, on a Greek state scholarship, he continued his studies in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts where he studied the art of engraving under E. J. Goerg. Later, in 1960, on an Italian state scholarship, he spent three months observing the art in the Italian museums.

Tetsis’ work although having abstract and modernist tendencies remains nevertheless intensively figurative. His choice of subject matter whether portraiture, seascape, landscape or still life act merely as an excuse to highlight the painterly quality of the works.

In his long career, he excelled not just in oil painting but also in watercolour, pastel, charcoal and ink. Light in his work is an integral component of colour, even in his black and white canvases. His birthplace, the island of Hydra remained a significant source of inspiration until the end.

In 1976, he was elected a professor at the School of Fine Arts, Athens, a position he held until 1991. In 1993, he became a member of the Academy of Athens, and in 1999 he was awarded the title of the ‘Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix’.