Emmanuel Zairis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Εμμανουήλ Ζαΐρης; 1876 or 1878 – 1948) was a Greek

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Biography

Zairis was born in 1876 or 1878 in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, but no information is available about his early years. In 1894 he left for Bavaria to study at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, where he was a student of

Nikolaos Gyzis Nikolaos Gyzis ( ; ; 1 March 1842 – 4 January 1901) is considered one of Greece's most important 19th century painters. He was most famous for his work ''Eros and the Painter'', his first genre painting. It was auctioned in May 2006 at Bonhams ...

. After completing his studies, he remained in Germany. From 1904 to 1930 Zairis took part in 22 exhibitions at the Glaspalast in Munich. During the 1913 exhibition he won the gold medal and in 1921 a

retrospective exhibition A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...

of his works was organized in Munich. In search of his own style he lived for a time in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Having spent several years abroad, he decided to return permanently to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In 1932 he was appointed director of the branch of 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 ...

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. At the 2021 census, there were 10,704 inhabitants, most of ...

. In 1934, another retrospective exhibition of Zairis' works was organized at the Zappeion Hall in

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 ...

, where more than 250 of his works were exhibited. Zairis took part in the Panhellenic Art Exhibitions of 1938, 1939 and 1940 and the

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 (), ...

of 1936. He died in Mykonos in 1948. In his works, Zairis mainly depicted working people with the aim of social reflection, but also painted landscapes and portraits to a lesser extent. He quickly moved away from the principles of the Munich Academy and the principles of ethnography and began to paint following the style of

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

.{{Cite web , last=team , date=2020-04-27 , title=28 Απριλίου. Παγκόσμια ημέρα μνήμης εργατών. Από τις Συλλογές του Τελλογλείου , url=https://www.teloglion.gr/blog/28-apriliou-pagkosmia-imera-mnimis-ergaton-apo-tis-sylloges-tou-tellogleiou/ , access-date=2023-10-24 , website=Τελλόγλειο , language=el He was also influenced by German Impressionism, which is evident in the colours of his work. Zairis artworks are exhibited in the

National Gallery of Greece The National Gallery (, ''Ethniki Pinakothiki'') is an art museum located on Vasilissis Sofias avenue in the Pangrati district, Athens, Greece. It is devoted to Greek and European art from the 14th century to the 20th century. The newly renov ...

and in other galleries and private collections ( Municipal Gallery of Ioannina, Averoff Gallery,

Teloglion Foundation of Art The Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation (formerly known in English as Teloglion Foundation of Art; ) is an art museum located in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece. History It was established in 1972 and it was named after Nestor and Aliki Te ...

s, Kouvoutsakis Gallery, etc.).

References

20th-century Greek painters 1948 deaths People from Bodrum Year of birth uncertain