Dimitris Mytaras (; 18 June 1934 – 16 February 2017) was a Greek artist who is considered one of the important painters of Greece during the 20th century.Greek Painting during 20th century
(Summary of an article by Nelly Misirli - Curator of the Greek National Gallery) His work was mainly inspired by the human figure, and a combination of naturalism and

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. From the 1960s onward, Mytaras moved in the direction of naturalism, while from 1975 an expressionistic approach became more and more marked in his output.

Biography

Macedonian_Museums-13-Sygxronhs_Texnhs_Florinas-62

Dimitris Mytaras was born in 1934 in

Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

. From 1953 till 1957, Mytaras studied at the

Athens School of Fine Arts The Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA; , ΑΣΚΤ) is a Greek higher education institution, specializing in the visual arts. History The Athens School of Fine Arts was established on 12 January 1837, known as the ''School for the Arts''. In the ...

under

Yiannis Moralis Yiannis Moralis (; also transliterated Yannis Moralis or Giannis Moralis; 23 April 1916 – 20 December 2009) was an important Greek visual artist and part of the so-called "Generation of the '30s". He is a person who carried weight in many ...

and Spyros Papaloukas. Leaving Greece in 1961 he studied stage design at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris with Labicse and

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundi ...

on a three-year scholarship. Later in 1966, he returned to Athens, where in those 5 years from 1961 to 1966 he participated in the

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

and the

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Biennial. Upon his return to Athens he held the retrospective "Study on a Mirror" at the Merlin Gallery, at a point when he was under heavy influence from abstraction, he went on to state that "In the end my deepest concern is with the idea of changing form" (in regards to his show). From 1964 till 1972, he directed the Interior Decoration Workshop of the Athens Technological Institute. Beginning in 1975, he taught at the Painting Workshop of the Athens School of Fine Arts. Mytaras participated in more than 30 international group shows, including the 1972

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

.Artist portrait by Greece now
/ref> He was also a renowned scenic designer and worked for major Greek theaters,

National Theatre of Greece The National Theatre of Greece () is based in Athens, Greece. History The first permanent theatre in modern Greece had been the Boukoura Theatre from 1840, but it had difficulty in managing its operation and stood empty for long periods of tim ...

and National Theatre of Northern Greece included. Mytaras died on 16 February 2017 in Athens following major health complications.

Works

During the time of the

Greek military junta of 1967-1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections wh ...

, Mytaras sought to comment critically on Greek life through a series of realistic works entitled ''Photographic Documents''. Later in life he turned towards classical themes. Mytaras was selected to create one of the official posters for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

.Olympic museum site

References

External links

Dimitris Mytaras at Euran Global Culture Networks

Documentary Video About Mytara's life and work

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mytaras, Dimitris 1934 births 2017 deaths People from Chalcis Greek painters Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Academic staff of the Athens School of Fine Arts Greek scenic designers

Biography

Works

See also

References

External links