Nikos Engonopoulos

In Libation a Parthenis (25 Mars), Engonopoulos acknowledges the impact that his former professor at the School of Fine Arts in Athens had on his artistic output. Both pupil and teacher were at the vanguard of modern Greek art, consistently referencing collective cultural symbols drawn from the rich history of Greece. 

The stage-like interior, reflecting Engonopoulos' interest in set design, is peppered with nationalistic references to Greece and its flag. His erotic depictions of nude or partially-dressed male and female figures are typically placed within an 'enigmatic system of poetic metaphor, based on classicistic compositional structure' (Haris Kambouridis and George Levounis, Modern Greek Art of the 20^th Century: The Complete Guide to the Collections of the Rhodes Municipality Modern Greek Art Museum, Athens, 1999, p. 116). In the present work, cobalt blues and icy whites dominate the upper half of the composition, and the faceless figures in this enigmatic commemoration represent the populace of modern Greece within a classical frame of reference.

Engonopoulos is best known as a pioneer of surrealism in Greek painting and literature. He was especially interested in the work of Georgio de Chirico. In his imagery, the association of reality and myth, classical and modern, embodies the preoccupations of modern Greece through the subconscious. As Niki Loizidi notes, 'Engonopoulos gave [Greece] one version of surrealism, universal, but at the same time deeply rooted in Greekness' (Niki Loizidi, cited in Kambouridis and Levounis, ibid, p. 116).
 
A smaller watercolour version of this subject by Engonopoulos is in a private collection, Athens.