“I was and remained a researcher and a student” is the title of the exhibition that opens at the Giannis Tsarouhis Foundation on 10/2, in Marousi.

This is the first exhibition of the year with representative, favorite works of the painter from different periods, some of which are not often presented. The exhibition is curated by the president of the Tsarouhis Foundation, Niki Gryparis, and is divided into eight thematic sections.

They are spread over two floors of the building at Plutarchou Street 28 and each subject is exhibited separately: Landscapes, Houses, Uniforms and Costumes, Portraits, Religious, Mythological, People with wings and finally Still Lifes.

A typical example of the curatorial approach is the first section where the elements that determined the painter’s relationship with nature for the study of colors are highlighted. There are works that he painted from nature; in the fantastic landscapes, the mythological, the religious and the scenes, he includes elements from this research. Therefore, the visitor sees in the theme “Landscapes” the work “Sunrise from the port of Chios”, a work from nature, and next to scenes, such as the “Bacchies”, and imaginary landscapes (“Young man sleeping by the sea”) with skies inspired by those of the above work.

As Giannis Tsarouhis himself has said, “using the costumes of the era of the myth and not the era of the creation of the works, is a bad habit of the 19th and early 20th centuries. {…} I wanted to paint religious and mythological subjects with modern figures and modern costumes, having met these faces in life, just as artists always did before the 19th century, and my passion to be archaeologically faithful to the historical accuracy of myth”. (Yiannis Tsarouhis Painting, comments, p. VII, no. 194).

A very important step in the effort to present the entire work of the artist is the recent publication entitled “Painting Lessons” by the Yiannis Tsarouchis Foundation and Agra Publishing. These are the courses given by Yiannis Tsarouchis in 1981 at the Ionian Center of Chios, founded by Isidoros Kioleoglou. The publication was made possible thanks to the cooperation, patience and persistence of Ephrosynis Doxiadis who transcribed these “Lessons” and wrote the comments with the help of the philologist Achilleas Tzala.

In this exhibition, works by Yannis Tsarouhis are also exhibited, many of which also illustrate the book. Important are the researches and lessons he gave in Paris, to the great scenographer, painter and costume designer, Lila de Nobili and other French artists who wanted to learn Byzantine painting, and which Lila de Nobili herself collected and donated to his Foundation painter.

The exhibition will last until 21/4 and there will be guided tours by artists and friends of the painter, as well as educational programs.