Lot 75: Nikolaos Lytras (Greek 1883-1927)

Mountain village
signed in greek (lower right)
oil on canvas
47 x 66 cm. (18 3/8 x 25 7/8 in.)

Private collection, Athens, since 1965.

Considered to be one of the pioneers of 20th century Greek painting, Nikolaos Lytras sought to liberate Greek art from the constraints of the academic tendencies of the past. After graduating from the Athens School of Fine Arts under his father Nikiforos Lytras, and Georgios Jakobides, he continued his studies in Munich. As a founding member of the "Omada Technis" (Art Group) he worked in the vein of impressionistic plein-air painting, developing, however, an expressionistic perspective.

His impressive Mountain Village has been in a private collection since 1965. Lytras' devotion to the observation of nature and an analysis of his sensations before the majesty of the landscape that unfolds before him is evident. Details did not concern him, nor did the exact identification of the location with familiar landmarks. Forms are created with rich colours, applied thickly in a sweeping stroke of the brush, with a spatula or even his fingers, as in the deep emerald green mass of the mountain slopes, which is relieved by the splashes of white cascades on the right side of the composition and the red-tiled houses of the village perched on the mountain's ledge. Lytras captures the subtle spirituality of the natural environment through the mauve mountains in the distance and the diaphanous sky, without superfluous dramatisation.