YANNIS TSAROUCHIS (1910-1989) Vase aux fleurs

YANNIS TSAROUCHIS (1910-1989)
Vase aux fleurs
signé en grec, inscrit et daté "8-4-61" au centre à droite
huile et crayon sur papier Canson
49,5 x 37cm. (19 5/16 x 14 9/16in.)

signed in Greek, inscribed and dated "8-4-61" on the centre right
oil and pencil on Canson paper
Provenance
Acquired from the artist by the present owner.

Whether I paint men or flowers,
I must reveal the divine spirit that lies within them.
Y. Tsarouchis

Tsarouchis's still lifes are small masterpieces of remarkable minimalism.1
I. Florou

Featured in a famous 1961 photograph of the artist in his home studio by American photographer Slim Aarons, this frugal composition evoking the immediacy and disarming sincerity of Theofilos's still lifes (compare lot 46), speaks to us in a lyrical idiom of quietude and contentment. There is an element of openness, achieved through the flat monochromatic background, and a feel of folk art stylisation in the handling of the leaves and flowers. As noted by art critic A. Schina, Tsarouchis was not really interested in the descriptive rendering of luxuriant and flamboyant floral arrangements. On the contrary, his flowers reflect everyday reality, conveying something from the period's zeitgeist and alluding, with their sense of freshness, to warm human bodies and friendly gazes.2

1. E. Florou, Yannis Tsarouchis, his Painting and his Era [in Greek], Nea Synora - A.A. Livanis editions, Athens 1989, p. 205.
2. A. Schina, "Flowers and Foliage in the Paintings of Yannis Tsarouchis."