Theodoros Vrizakis ( Greek Θεόδωρος Π. Βρυζάκης ; October 19, 1814 , Thebes (Greece) - December 6, 1878 , Munich ) is one of two (together with Tsokos ) the most prominent artists of the first post-revolutionary years of Greece. [1] and the founder of the so-called " Munich School " of Greek painting.
| Theodoros Vrizakis | |
|---|---|
| Greek Εόδωρος Βρυζάκης | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | October 19, 1814 |
| Place of Birth | Thebes ( Greece ) |
| Date of death | December 6, 1878 (64 years) |
| Place of death | Munich ( German Empire ) |
| Allegiance |  Greece |
| Genre | painting |
| Study | Athens School of Fine Arts , Munich Academy of Arts |
| Style | academicism , romanticism |
Content
Biography
Vrizakis was born in 1814 in Thebes, Central Greece. Almost at the very beginning of the Greek Revolution in May 1821, his father, Petros Vrizakis, was hanged by the Turks. According to some sources, at the end of the Liberation War and after the ascension of the Bavarian Otto to the Greek throne, Vrizakis was sent, with a scholarship as an orphan, to the Greek Teachers' Training College in Munich [2] On his return to Greece he entered the School of Art (later the Athens School of Fine Arts ) after which, having received a scholarship, he again went to Munich in 1844 , where he was accepted into the Academy of Munich . [3] According to other sources, from the orphanage school on the island of Aegina , established by Kapodistrias and at the age of 18, was taken out by the German philologist Frederick Tiersham to Bavaria, where he remained until entering the Munich Academy. [four]
His biographers have no disagreement about his life from the moment he entered the Academy. In Munich, Vrizakis lived the rest of his life. His teachers and friends were such prominent artists of the romanticism of the era of Romanticism as Karl Wilhelm Hydeck , Peter von Hess , Heinrich von Mayer and others. From 1845 to 1855, Vrizakis traveled extensively in Europe and from 1848 to 1850 he lived in Greece.
In 1855, Vrizakis took part in the World Exhibition in Paris with his work Exodos Mesolongi (see Third Siege of Mesolongi ). Vrizakis rewrote this picture himself at least twice. Two originals were burned during a fire in Mesolongi in 1929 . The third original is kept in the National Gallery in Athens. However, lithographs of the painting have been distributed since 1856 .
For three years, 1861 - 1863, Vrizakis painted the Greek Annunciation Church in the English city of Manchester . In 1867, Vrizakis took part in the DelVecchio exhibition in Leipzig with paintings by Exodos Messolonhione , Olympios, Georgakis , Lord Byron in Mesolongi and the Oath in Saint Lavra .
Vrizakis died in Munich in 1878 and was buried at the city’s First Cemetery . According to his will, he left all the pictures of his studio to the University of Athens and 760 marks to repair the roof of the Greek Church of the Savior (Salvatorkirche) of Munich . [five]
Works
Vrizakis, together with the artist D. Tsokos, is considered one of the two most prominent artists of the first post-revolutionary years. Although these two artists give a slightly different look to the Liberation War from the Philhelines, they still continue to look at it through the eyes of their teachers, full of feelings of sympathy and admiration for the fighting Greek people. If the works of Tsokos, whose ideology was formed in the liberal atmosphere of the Ionian Islands and Venice, were more realistic but always within the framework of his academic education, then in the works of Vrizakis one can trace the Philhellenian orientation of the Bavarian King’s entourage with romantic and idealistic paintings, even in scenes of pain and grief . [1] The works of Vrizakis are considered typical examples of the 19th century Greek romantic artists who received artistic education in Germany and created the so-called “Munich School”.
His works, almost all with a Greek theme, are characterized by the pompous and nostalgic manners of romantic artists of the 19th century. Already during the life of the artist, the work of Vrizakis was in great demand as a living and reliable display of Greek history. Many of his works were widely known for lithographs and other reproductions. [6] In the paintings of Vrizakis, the artist’s interest is focused on the clothing of the figures and the stage decoration around them. However, as a result of this theatricality of his works, any feeling can be traced on the faces that he displays. Critics have pointed out that Vrizakis views his themes through the eyes of an alien. However, with all this and beyond any doubt, Vrizakis is one of the main founders of the newest (post-Byzantine) Greek painting.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 National gallery (inaccessible link) . The appeal date is September 12, 2012. Archived August 6, 2013.
- "Έφυγε" από τη ωή ο ζωγράφος Θεόδωρος Βρυζάκης - Book Press
- ↑ Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων - ΣΣΕ - Θεόδωρος Βρυζάκης - sse.gr
- Ο Θεόδωρος Βρυζάκης και η "Έξοδος του Μεσολογγίοο"
- 24grammata.com Culture e-Magazine - Free eBooks "Μεγάλοι Έλληνες Ζωγράφοι: Θεόδωρος Βρυζάκης
- ↑ ΕΙΚΑΣΤΙΚΟΝ - Ζωγραφική - Θεόδωρος Βρυζάκης
Links
- [1] Εκτενές βιογραφικό άρθρο της Κατερίνας Σπετσιέρη-Beschi για τον Θ. Π. Βρυζάκη.
- http://www.hprt-archives.gr/V3/public/main/page-assetview.aspx?tid=0000024817 (not available link)