
Konstantinos Volanakis (
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 ...
: Κωνσταντίνος Βολανάκης; c. 1837 - 29 June 1907) 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 ...
. He is known as one of the greatest Greek
seascape
A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used for images of land in art. By a similar de ...
painters.
Biography

Volanakis was born at
Heraklion
Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...
on
Crete
Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
, to parents who came from a small village near
Rethymno
Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...
. Later, they moved again for business reasons, and he completed his basic education on
Syros
Syros ( ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and at the 2021 census it had 21,124 inhabitants.
The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano S ...
in 1856.
[Konstantinos Volanakis: The Father of Greek Seascape painting](_blank)
@ Astypalaia/Wordpress. Afterward, urged on by his brothers, he went to
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
and became a book-keeping clerk for a family of Greek merchants who were related to his family by marriage.
While there, he made sketches of ships and harbors in his account books. Rather than dismiss him, the family recognized his artistic talent, and made arrangements for him to study at the
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany.
In the second half of the 19th centur ...
, under
Karl von Piloty
Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany.
Life and work
Piloty was born in Munich. His fath ...
, joining a group of Greek students that included
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 ...
,
Georgios Jakobides
Georgios Jakobides (Greek: Γεώργιος Ιακωβίδης; 11 January 1853 – 13 December 1932) was a Greek painter and medallist, one of the main representatives of the Greek artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the ...
,
Nikiphoros Lytras
Nikiforos Lytras (; 1832 – 13 June 1904) was a Greek painter. He was born in Tinos and trained in Athens at the School of Arts. In 1860, he won a scholarship to Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Munich. After completing these studies, he became a ...
and
Polychronis Lembesis.
His instructors discouraged any sort of landscape painting, because it was "in decline", so he concentrated on portraits.
His break came in 1869, three years after the
Battle of Lissa, when Emperor
Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...
held a drawing competition to memorialize the event. Volanakis won the contest, receiving 1000 gold
Florin
The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time.
It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...
s and free travel cruises with the Austrian navy for three years.
[Brief biography](_blank)
@ the National Gallery (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 reno ...
website. He took full advantage of this, producing numerous canvases and sketches. In 1883, despite warnings from Gyzis that it would ruin his career, he returned to Greece and settled in Piraeus, where his family had a pottery factory, citing pressure from his wife, whose health was suffering from the cold winters in Germany.
From then until 1903, he was a teacher 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 ...
, where one of his best-known students was
Michalis Oikonomou. He also operated his own private school.
Another of his pupils was
Sophia Laskaridou In 1889, he was awarded the Silver Cross of the
Order of the Redeemer
The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state.
Establishment
The establishment of the Orde ...
.
He was, however, very poor in his later years, due to his very large family and declining interest in his art. In an effort to increase his income, he reversed the usual method of painting first, then framing, by working with a group of framers who would make luxurious carved frames first, then creating paintings to fit them.
Volanakis died on 29 June 1907 at
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
, from complications related to a major
hernia
A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...
. His funeral fell on an important election day, so very few people attended.
Volanakis' paintings are held in public and private collections such as 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 ...
,
Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, and the
Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation
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 ...
.
Gallery
File:Κωνσταντίνος Βολανάκης - Συλλέγοντας τα δίχτυα.jpg, Collecting the Nets (1871)
File:Corinth canal inauguration by Volanakis.jpg, The Inauguration of the Corinth Canal
The Corinth Canal () is a canal in Greece that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. Completed in 1893, it cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and "separates" the Peloponnese peninsula fro ...
(1893)
File:Βολανάκης, Κωνσταντίνος - Η έξοδος του Άρεως, 1894.jpg, Sortie of the Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect
* ...
(1894)
File:Βολανάκης, Κωνσταντίνος - Αραγμένα καράβια, π. 1886-1890.jpg, Anchored Boats (1895)
References
External links
ArtNet: More works by Volanakis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volanakis, Konstantinos
Artists from Heraklion
1837 births
1907 deaths
Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece
Expatriates in the Austrian Empire
Expatriates in Austria-Hungary
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni
19th-century Greek painters
Munich School
Academic staff of the Athens School of Fine Arts