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Greek, 1913-1968
Standing woman with armchair 1940-46
pencil on paper
signed lower right
28 x 23 cm
Provenance
collection of the artist estate
acquired by the present owner, London
Exhibited
Alexandros Alexandrakis The Nude, Gallery K , London, 27 November 1997 – 10 January 1998
Alexandros Alexandrakis The Nude, Gallery K , Nicosia, 4 December 1999 – 20 January 2000
Literature
‘Alexandrakis Alexandros’, The Nude, 1998, Gallery K, p. 32 (illustrated)
Alexandrakis born in Athens in 1913, and long before he entered the city’s prestigious School of Fine Arts.
Alexandrakis displayed a precocious talent, drawing and painting whenever possible. At the age of 17 he exhibited 23 pieces of work at a group show organised by the YMCA.
When he graduated from the art college in 1937, he was the first student ever to win four major awards presented for portraiture, clothed and semi-clothed life drawing and painting, and composition. As Europe teetered on the brink of its devastating war, Alexandrakis participated in numerous exhibitions until 1940, when he and his five brothers were drafted into the army.
The war proved to be a seminal experience for Alexandros Alexandrakis, who made his name as a war artist with his evocative, powerful yet poignant impressions of the horrific campaign against the Italian fascists fought in the mountains of Albania. It was during the heat of war while rapidly recording images on whatever scraps of paper were available that he learnt about the economy of line.
After the war he put death and destruction behind him, to concentrate on the human form in its more joyful aspects, particularly nubile young women signifying the life-force. He forged a strong reputation in Greece and in the USA, winning numerous important awards, and was regularly invited to submit work to the Guggenheim’s exhibition of ‘National Unity, Letters and Arts’ and the ‘National Exhibition of Engravings’ in the Library of Congress in Washington.
His award-winning book The War We Fought – 1940-41, illustrated with over 100 drawings and paintings, was published in 1968, the year of his premature death at the age of 55.
Alexandrakis displayed a precocious talent, drawing and painting whenever possible. At the age of 17 he exhibited 23 pieces of work at a group show organised by the YMCA.
When he graduated from the art college in 1937, he was the first student ever to win four major awards presented for portraiture, clothed and semi-clothed life drawing and painting, and composition. As Europe teetered on the brink of its devastating war, Alexandrakis participated in numerous exhibitions until 1940, when he and his five brothers were drafted into the army.
The war proved to be a seminal experience for Alexandros Alexandrakis, who made his name as a war artist with his evocative, powerful yet poignant impressions of the horrific campaign against the Italian fascists fought in the mountains of Albania. It was during the heat of war while rapidly recording images on whatever scraps of paper were available that he learnt about the economy of line.
After the war he put death and destruction behind him, to concentrate on the human form in its more joyful aspects, particularly nubile young women signifying the life-force. He forged a strong reputation in Greece and in the USA, winning numerous important awards, and was regularly invited to submit work to the Guggenheim’s exhibition of ‘National Unity, Letters and Arts’ and the ‘National Exhibition of Engravings’ in the Library of Congress in Washington.
His award-winning book The War We Fought – 1940-41, illustrated with over 100 drawings and paintings, was published in 1968, the year of his premature death at the age of 55.
