Lot 9: Michalis Economou (Greek, 1888-1933) House by the sea 60 x 46 cm.

Michalis Economou
(Greek, 1888-1933)
House by the sea signed 'M. Economou' (lower left)oil on canvas 60 x 46 cm.

Provenance: Christie's, Greek Sale, 14 December 1994, lot 91.Acquired from the above sale by the present owner.LiteratureA. Kouria, M. Economou, Adam editions, Athens 2001, no. 134, p. 257 (catalogued), p. 181 (illustrated).Economou felt the heartbeat of the Greek seaside landscape and captured something of its unique character, while at the same time conveying his own emotional response to its evocative charm. Here, using swift and freely applied brushstrokes informed by gestural verve, he distilled a mood of tenderness and poetry from an ordinary subject, transforming it into an image of subjective truth—a screen on which the artist has projected his inner wonderland. Exquisite in colour and tone, and faultless in design and execution, this poetic vision of 'humble monumentality' shows him in full command of his artistic powers, which flowered after his return to Greece from France in 1926. The eye is invited into the picture through the wonderful reflections on shallow still waters in the foreground and then travels upward towards the precipitous cliff in the upper right corner, following the pronounced diagonal of the large stairway which 'rules over' the pictorial space. Two female figures chatting in the middleground soften this upward thrust, while at the same time they enliven the composition with their bright dresses, contributing to the harmony of the whole and welding natural environment, human presence and man-made structures into a compelling entity.The motif of the house reflected on water, a recurrent theme throughout Economou's oeuvre, echoing distant memories and early experiences, creates a binary scheme finely balanced on the peaceful waterline. As noted by Professor A. Kotidis, the element of reverse symmetry introduced by the reflection of the solid on the fluid, this coexistence of the man-made/solid with the natural/liquid provides the painter a bipolarity that allows him to express his psychological state and find equilibrium in his pictorial world.11. A. K(otidis) in Dictionary of Greek Artists [in Greek], vol. 3, Melissa publ., Athens 1999, pp. 350-351.