ALEXIS AKRITHAKIS (1939-1994) Quatre histoires
ALEXIS AKRITHAKIS (1939-1994)
Quatre histoires
signé « Akrithakis » (au centre à gauche),
signé et daté « 30.1.77/ 80 x 100 cm / Akrithakis / Athénes » (au dos)
huile sur toile
80 x 100 cm. (31.50 × 39.37 in.)
oil on canvas
Footnotes
Provenance
Christie's Greek Sale of 29 April 1996, lot 131.
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner.
I make stories with pictures.
A. Akrithakis
A charismatic image maker, Akrithakis invites us to an enchanting world of bold shapes and striking colours endowed with a dreamy quality and childlike wonder. "A rousing cheerfulness emanates from his images—an infectious cheerfulness inviting us to enter a multi-coloured amusement park whose brilliant lights set off emotions."1
As noted by A. Papazacharias who co-curated the artist's recent retrospective at the Benaki Museum, "Akrithakis's stories represent an iconic approach to pictorial narrative, executed with a geometry that simultaneously delineates space and time. Within these stories, recurring symbols and motifs are transformed into eloquent statements through a process akin to both comic book strips and dictionary entries."2
Evincing a rich and highly imaginative myth-making skill, this captivating work includes Akrithakis's signature image—his emblematic suitcase—that conveys the artist's escapist fantasies and lifetime quest for adventure and freedom.3
1. C. Joachimides, "Wonderings of a Daydreamer" [in Greek] in Akrithakis, exhibition catalogue, Goethe Institute, Athens 1968.
2. A. Papazacharias, "Analysis by Sight" in Alexis Akrithakis, a Line Wave [in Greek], exhibition catalogue, Benaki Museum, Athens 2026, p. 15.
3. See D. Zacharopoulos, "An Unexpected Glimmer over the Abyss or the Artistic Oeuvre of Alexis Aktrithakis", in Alexis Akrtithakis, exhibition catalogue, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin 2003, p. 143.
ALEXIS AKRITHAKIS (1939-1994)
Quatre histoires
signé « Akrithakis » (au centre à gauche),
signé et daté « 30.1.77/ 80 x 100 cm / Akrithakis / Athénes » (au dos)
huile sur toile
80 x 100 cm. (31.50 × 39.37 in.)
oil on canvas
Footnotes
Provenance
Christie's Greek Sale of 29 April 1996, lot 131.
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner.
I make stories with pictures.
A. Akrithakis
A charismatic image maker, Akrithakis invites us to an enchanting world of bold shapes and striking colours endowed with a dreamy quality and childlike wonder. "A rousing cheerfulness emanates from his images—an infectious cheerfulness inviting us to enter a multi-coloured amusement park whose brilliant lights set off emotions."1
As noted by A. Papazacharias who co-curated the artist's recent retrospective at the Benaki Museum, "Akrithakis's stories represent an iconic approach to pictorial narrative, executed with a geometry that simultaneously delineates space and time. Within these stories, recurring symbols and motifs are transformed into eloquent statements through a process akin to both comic book strips and dictionary entries."2
Evincing a rich and highly imaginative myth-making skill, this captivating work includes Akrithakis's signature image—his emblematic suitcase—that conveys the artist's escapist fantasies and lifetime quest for adventure and freedom.3
1. C. Joachimides, "Wonderings of a Daydreamer" [in Greek] in Akrithakis, exhibition catalogue, Goethe Institute, Athens 1968.
2. A. Papazacharias, "Analysis by Sight" in Alexis Akrithakis, a Line Wave [in Greek], exhibition catalogue, Benaki Museum, Athens 2026, p. 15.
3. See D. Zacharopoulos, "An Unexpected Glimmer over the Abyss or the Artistic Oeuvre of Alexis Aktrithakis", in Alexis Akrtithakis, exhibition catalogue, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin 2003, p. 143.
