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拍品专文
"Everything in Greece speaks to Man in a language that is almost his own. Her mountains and rivers, her seas and her plains - they neither oppress Man nor torment him; they are his friends and his fellows" (Nikos Kazantzakis quoted in H. Dichand, Theodoros Stamos: The Dark Paintings, Zurich 1985, p. 9). The work of Theodoros Stamos reflects these words of the Greek poet Nikos Kazantzakis. Stamos was recognized for representing the American technique of Abstract Expressionists residing in New York in the 1940s and 1950s while maintaining his Greek roots.
The large scale canvas Taygetos, 1958, shares the name of one of the largest mountains in Greece, known for its pyramidal shape as well as the beautiful caves and deep ravines that decorate its landscape. These forms are arguably reflected in Stamos' Taygetos, which radiates a brilliant reddish-orange punctured by a harsh stripe of white and tickled by gentle accents of green, all of which is further highlighted by bold blocks of black in the background. The mountain was named after the nymph Tayget of Greek myth, daughter of Atlas. After being seduced by Zeus, Tayget gave birth to Lacedaemon, who would later become the founder of Sparta. Although Stamos does not literally depict this story of the mountain and the nymph after whom it was named, he does allow a level of association that leaves the canvas open to interpretation amidst the expanses of color. The essence of Stamos' artistic being lies beneath the vibrant, modulated surfaces of his paintings.
Theodoros Stamos, 1954. Photo by Felix Streuli, Zurich.
The large scale canvas Taygetos, 1958, shares the name of one of the largest mountains in Greece, known for its pyramidal shape as well as the beautiful caves and deep ravines that decorate its landscape. These forms are arguably reflected in Stamos' Taygetos, which radiates a brilliant reddish-orange punctured by a harsh stripe of white and tickled by gentle accents of green, all of which is further highlighted by bold blocks of black in the background. The mountain was named after the nymph Tayget of Greek myth, daughter of Atlas. After being seduced by Zeus, Tayget gave birth to Lacedaemon, who would later become the founder of Sparta. Although Stamos does not literally depict this story of the mountain and the nymph after whom it was named, he does allow a level of association that leaves the canvas open to interpretation amidst the expanses of color. The essence of Stamos' artistic being lies beneath the vibrant, modulated surfaces of his paintings.
Theodoros Stamos, 1954. Photo by Felix Streuli, Zurich.