Constantinos Volanakis Greek, 1837-1907

Most likely painted in Greece after Volanakis returned from Germany in 1883 the present work is a major addition to his oeuvre. In the centre of the composition the MERI, an impressive French steamer, has arrived in a Greek port to unload passengers and cargo. Filled with movement and activity, Volanakis has taken great care to detail. In the foreground an elegant woman with a cream parasol, her back to the viewer, is being rowed towards the large ship. Another couple can be seen descending the stairs on the side of the boat while a member of the crew is ready to assist them on to a smaller rowboat. On the bow of the ship two figures are in conversation while on the edge of the pier a figure dwarfed by the size of the steamer looks on in amazement.

An X-radiograph of the painting reveals that the artist has reworked the present composition from a horizontal to a vertical format. It is clear from the mosaic image that there are traces of an earlier composition underneath. According to Dr. Nicholas Eastaugh "It was clear from the mosaic image that there were differences between the radiograph and the surface image. In particular we may point to the features visible in the lower part of the upper left quadrant of the radiograph. These do not appear to relate to surface features (such as clouds) and must therefore be ascribed to elements of an earlier composition".

According to restorer and pigment-analyst Katherine Hassall "The present composition is painted on a re-used canvas over another seascape. The artist turned the canvas on its side and painted the present vertical composition over the top. It looks as though the artist painted the scene, then signed it and varnished it. He then returned to it at a later stage".

The practice of re-using canvas from previous compositions was fairly common in the nineteenth century. It is interesting to note that Volanakis had no qualms in abandoning nearly accomplished compositions that he was not entirely satisfied with, to start again from scratch. The present work thus provides a fascinating insight into Volanakis’ working process.

We are grateful to Dr. Nicholas Eastaugh and Catherine Hassall for their assistance in cataloguing this work.