Georgios Jakobides (Greek: Γεώργιος Ιακωβίδης; 11 January 1853 – 13 December 1932) was a Greek painter and

medallist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

, one of the main representatives of the

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 ...

artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the first curator of 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 ...

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 ...

Life

He was born in Chidira,

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

. At the age of 13, he traveled to

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

to live with his uncle and study at the Evangelical School. From 1870 to 1876, Jakobides studied sculpture and painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts under Nikiphoros Lytras, and in 1877 he went to the Academy of Fine Arts in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

on a scholarship to continue his painting studies under Ludwig von Lofftz, Wilhelm Lindenschmidt and Gabriel von Max. In Munich, he lived for 17 years where he worked in his studio, painting mythological scenes,

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

pictures, and

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

. His work is influenced by German academic Realism. His most famous paintings were depictions of children, but he was also o notable portrait painter. In the capital of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, he was regarded as a successful German artist selling many of his works at high prices. The Greek government invited him in 1900 to return to

in order to organize the

National Gallery of Athens 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 1904 he was appointed Director of the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he taught for 25 years. At this time, additional to his themes he produced official portraits of eminent Greeks (e.g., Queen Sophia). He opposed all new artistic tendencies, including

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

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 ...

, but supported younger artists to follow their own individual artistic tendencies.He was awarded at five international exhibits: among those in Berlin 1891 and in Paris 1900. His works are found in the National Gallery of Athens, private collections and in museums and art galleries around the world including art galleries in Germany and the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. Jakobides' opus consists of some two hundred oil paintings, several of which are on display in Europe and overseas. His son, the actor Michalis Iakovides, donated his personal journal – which includes a list of his paintings between 1878 and 1919 – to the National Gallery of Greece in 1951. He died in Athens in 1932.

Legacy

In addition to his work as a painter, Jakobides was commissioned to create designs for a number of modern Greek coins including the 1 and 2

drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

coins from 1910 and 1911, the 50

lepta ''Lepta'' (, ) is the second full-length album by the Russian folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk ...

of 1921, and the 10 lepta of 1922.

Gallery

File:George Iakovidis - Children's Concert.JPG, ''Children's Concert'' File:Grandma's Favorite.jpg, ''Grandma's Favorite'' File:Portrait of King George I of Greece, National Historical Museum, 8 March 2020.jpg, ''Portrait of King George I'' File:Queen Sofia of Greece.jpg, ''Portrait of Queen Sofia of Greece'' File:Pavlos Melas.jpg, '' Pavlos Melas'' File:The First Steps 1893.jpg, ''The First Steps'' (1893) File:The Girl.jpg, ''The Girl'' File:Ιακωβίδης, Γεώργιος - Χωριό της Βαυαρίας, προ 1890.jpg, ''Bavarian village'' File:The Favorite by Georgios Iakovidis.jpg, ''The Favorite'' File:Georgios Jakobides Girl reading c1882.jpg, ''Girl Reading'' File:The Naughty Grandson.jpg, ''The Naughty Grandson'' File:Cold_Shower_by_Georgios_Iakovidis.jpg, ''Cold Shower''

References

External links

Jakobides Digital Museum

National Gallery of Athens Official website
* Andreas S. Ioannou, ''19th Century Greek Art''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobides, Georgios 1853 births 1932 deaths 19th-century German male artists 19th-century Greek painters 20th-century Greek male artists 20th-century Greek painters Academic staff of the Athens School of Fine Arts Greek art curators Greek male painters Greek portrait painters Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Munich School People from Eresos-Antissa

Life

Legacy

Gallery

See also

References

External links