Thanassis
Stephopoulos was born in Amfissa, Phocis.
His father, who was a self-taught
iconographer, died in 1931. In 1946
completed his school studies while attending
the preliminary section of the Athens School
of Fine Arts with professors Dimitrios
Biskinis and Pavlos Mathiopoulos, and in
1947 with Yiannis Moralis.
From 1947 on, he continuously showed his
work to Spyros Papaloukas and Nikos
Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, from whose
advice/guidance he benefited greatly. In
1952 he received a painting diploma with two
honors "Outdoors" and a "Certificate of the
Theoretical and Historical Lessons". From
1952 to 1954 he attended classes in
engraving by the master Giannis Kefallinos,
one of the most important Greek art
teachers.
In May 1954, he received a scholarship from
the University of Athens for two years and
from 1956 to 1957 a scholarship from the
State Scholarship Foundation and continued
his studies in Paris.
In Paris, he studied painting at the École
nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts from
1954 to 1957 under the direction of Maurice
Brianchon. Alongside, during 1954 and 1955,
he studied lithography with professor René
Jaudon. From 1955 to 1957 at the École
pratique des hautes études he studied
architectural analysis of the ancient Greek
style and anecdotal evidence for Delphi with
professor Pierre de La Coste-Messelière who
was also the department manager. In 1958 he
attended the first and second year of
studies at the École du Louvre and also the
general history of art.
Having studied for many years in Greece and
abroad, with guidance from important artists
he continued until 1964. The resulting
sensory perception in this first period of
his work is the series of Nature morte,
which were exposed for the first time in
France at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la
Ville de Paris, in Salon d'Automne at Grand
Palais, at Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen and
elsewhere. Many art critics have studied his
paintings and in the newspaper Beaux-Arts,
M. Sauriere wrote: "...la belle nature morte
aux oiseaux noirs de Stephopoulos..."
In the second period he was evidently in
search of freedom. This search is
interpreted in the re-composition of plastic
elements of the painting, creating new
pictures in the spirit of abstraction. These
quests, which started in 1959, and lasted
for over ten years, were exposed for the
first time in 1960 in individual exhibitions
on "New Forms" and "Astor". Abstraction will
henceforth affect in different ways his work
until the end.
In the third period there are elements from
his previous work, featuring himself and his
motion. In the latter period, overcoming
difficulties and arbitrariness that we meet
to divide the life and work of an artist
into periods, accumulating plastics
expressing contemplation, soul searching,
contemplation, usually creating three zones
which remind us of the counterpoint in
music. Thus creating his own artistic space.
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