Alecos Fassianos Greek, b.1935

Alexandre Iolas, Paris
Galerie Samy Kinge, Paris

Paris, Salon d'Automne, 1976

Fassianos's initial training was at the School of Fine Arts in Athens under Yannis Moralis (lot 24). In 1960 he went to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Eugene Clairin and George Dayez. As noted by Marina Lambraki-Plaka "Alecos Fassianos belongs to the generation of those who inherited hellenocentric modernism. His youthful works were influenced by French art informel. But he quickly found his own personal style. Ancient vase painting, vernacular art and the teachings of Tsarouchis assisted him in composing a code genetically programmed to convey a message of vital well-being and optimism." (Marina Lambraki-Plaka, National Gallery 100 Years, Four Centuries of Greek Painting, Athens, 1999, p. 515).

"In the 1970s the soft pinks and vivid yellows, ochres and light blues give way to stronger tones of blue and red; initially the pattern is incised on the thick impasto. His visual language of this period is informed by his study of ancient Greek pottery, his training in printmaking and graphic design, and his love for Karaghiozis theatre (the Greek shadow puppet theatre) and for folk painting. His works are expertly designed, and some seem to have been made with a single stroke. His familiarity with Karaghiozis, a childhood hero, can be seen in the way his slightly deformed figures stand in space, against an often white and always undecorated backdrop. His spontaneous and plain style, sometimes erroneously described as child-like, points to another source of inspiration: Greek folk painting and Theophilos in particular. Yet the immediacy of his work is achieved through an approach different to that of shadow theatre or fold painting." (Katerina Koskina, Contemporary Greek Artists, Melissa Publishing, Athens, 2004, p. 66).