Lot 83: IOANNIS ALTAMOURAS

IOANNIS ALTAMOURAS GREEK 1852 - 1878 FRIGATE ON CALM WATERS signed and dated 1877 lower right oil on canvas 41 by 56cm., 16¼ by 22in.

Greek Artists Exhibition, 1948

Y. Harami Collection
Sale: Stavros Mihalarias Art, Athens, 21 November 1988, lot 53
Private Collection, Athens

The present work exemplifies the distinctive atmospheric effects and silvery haze for which Altamouras' seascapes are known, and has a certain lyricism, freshness and immediacy which reflect his exposure to the currents of early Impressionism. His seascapes have a crisp light heartedness and sensitivity to atmospheric change, whether they illustrate the harbours, steamships and sailing-vessels of the North or of the Aegean. Though he died at the early age of 26, Ioannis Altamoura's talents ensured that he is remembered as one of the finest Greek marine painters of his generation, ranked alongside Volanakis and Chatzis.

Both of Altamouras' parents were respected painters, and his precocious artistic talent and inclination were encouraged from a young age, culminating in his studies at the School of Fine Arts in Athens under Nikiforos Lytras after which he was sent by King George I to Copenhagen on a painting scholarship. Ironically Altamoura's passion for seascapes brought his life to a premature end, when a long-term chest ailment was aggravated by his studies in Denmark and his time exposed to the pernicious seaside climate in Greece.