Lot 55: Theofrastos Triantafyllidis (Greek, 1881-1955) Vase of flowers 47 x 34 cm.

Vase of flowers
signed in Greek (lower left)
oil on canvas laid down on panel
47 x 34 cm.

Painted c. 1925-30.

PROVENANCE:
Bonhams, The Greek Sale, London, 15 May 2007, lot 90.
Private collection, Athens.

LITERATURE:
Antonis Kottidis, Triantafyllidis, University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 2002, no 120, p. 190 (illustrated).

A splendid still life painted in a serene and joyous spirit with a remarkable radiance of colour, Vase with Flowers belongs to the artist's 'luminous period' from the late 1920s. Painted with broad, slashing strokes and sharp dots, the flowers and the tall vase are dashed off boldly with perfect assurance that the brush will suggest the featheriness of the blossoms, the velvety feel of the petals and the translucency of the glass.

Discussing lot 55 Professor A. Kotidis, who prepared the artist's monograph, notes: "In Triantafyllidis' work nothing is purely fauvist or expressionistic in the sense of adhering to the formulated doctrines of these modern art movements. When he paints a simple subject, such as a vase with flowers, one can easily discern Manet's shift of focus towards flatness and texture. However, these elements are not the only ones discernable. They coexist with a tendency to avoid the total elimination of the impression of volume resulting from the building up of form." υ1 In other words, we can say that the flower as motif - and in a broader sense nature as subject - remains a firm anchorage for Triantafyllidis, who wants to ensure that painting can be emancipated from the pedantry of academicismυ2 without having to be subject to the tyranny of formlessness; that there is no art beyond form. υ3

υ1. A. Kotidis, Theofrastos Triantafyllidis [in Greek], University Studio Press Thessaloniki, 2002, p. 193.
υ2. From 1919 on, Triantafyllidis participated in the exhibitions of "Omas Technis", a revolutionary art group that aspired to break the old moulds and abolish the academic formula.
υ3. See The Flower as Image, exh. cat., Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, 2004.