Lot 1: Michalis Economou Greek, 1888-1933 , House and Figures by the Sea oil on board

signed l.l. oil on board

36.5 by 53.5cm., 14½ by 21in.

Private Collection, Athens

It has been suggested that the present work was painted during Economou's first Paris period.

We are grateful to Aphrodite Kouria for her assistance in cataloguing this work.
The present work is a superb example of Economou's poetic landscapes, their characteristic delicate sense of atmosphere conveyed through the use of a restrained palette of earthy tones accentuated by the vibrant blue of the sea and sky.

''All the subjects of Economou's work are taken from nature. In his earliest paintings - landscapes mainly from the South of France but also from Greece - the weathered walls of the houses and mills, the arches of the old bridges and the rocks are 'structured' with dull or greyish tones, splashed uninhibitedly but with a masterful touch on card, linen or canvas, sometimes almost sculpted, at other times as if wiped smooth.'' (Aphrodite Kouria, Michalis Economou: An Individualistic Interpreter of Greek Landscapes, Zygos, Athens, 1983, p. 44). In the present work, the use of this technique as well as the blending of colours and contours lends the painting a hazy, ethereal quality. Within Economou's often almost monochromatic compositions, colour, as a vehicle to convey feelings and create atmosphere, took supremacy. '' Even those subjects which could be used as narrative elements appear in his paintings in a purely chromatic role. Thus the human figures in his paintings - when they do appear - breathe no spark of life into the work: they are merely an excuse for a small area of colour or a patch of brushwork'' (ibid.).