Lefteris (Eleftherios) Valakas () (8 May 1944 – November 1982) was a Greek

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He was born in the village of Pyrgos on

Tinos Tinos ( ) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It forms part of the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of and a 2021 census population of 8,934 inhabitants. Tinos is famous amo ...

island in Greece. Valakas after concluding his basic education in Pyrgos, enrolled in the School of Fine Arts of Pyrgos. After graduating, he continued his studies in the respective school of Athens,

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 ...

, for two years. After receiving scholarship by the Evangelistria Institution of Tinos, he concluded the studies in sculpture in the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Valakas had made many works across Greece and during the last years of his life, he worked in the reconstruction works of

Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, ...

. He was married to Andromachi Karali and had three children Antonis, and the twins Costas and Nassos. Lefteris Valakas died unexpectedly on Tinos at the age of 38.

Biography

1944: Lefteris Valakas is born on 8 May, on Saturday, in the village of Pyrgos in

. 1956-1959: He studied Marble Art in Preliminary School of Fine Arts of Pyrgos. 1959-1964: He enrolled in the School of Fine Arts of Athens and studied sculpture by the professor Thanassis Apartis. 1965-1967: Valakas started creating personal works in marble, iron and copper. During his military service, he creates the super sized monument "Tsolias of '17" in the city of Arta. 1967-1969: He studied in

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Paris by professor J. Yensesse. At the same time, he also takes courses in

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

by professor R. Martin. under scholarship of the Holly Foundation of Evanglelistria of Tinos. He exposes some of his work in the Salon d'Automne in

Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...

. 1970: He came to Athens for permanent residence. He displayed many of his works in marble and copper in the stage of Fine Arts in Parnassos, in the 10th Panhellenic Artistic Movement and in many private galleries. 1971: He participated in the 11th Panhellenic artistic movement in Zappeion exposing many of his marble compositions. He also creates a number of mοnuments all over Greece and especially in

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

Elis Elis also known as Ellis or Ilia (, ''Eleia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it ...

Cyclades The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate i ...

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese penin ...

and

Corinthia Corinthia (; ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese. It is situated around the city of Corinth, in the north-eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Ge ...

. 1972: Valakas married Andromachi Karali and his first son, Antonis, is born. Meanwhile, he participates in the 4th New Artists Exposition held by the Hellenic American Union. He created the composition "Eleftheria" ("Liberty") in Kastro of Elis. In sequence, he makes an anaglyphs in many central buildings in the city of Athens. 1973: He displayed with other artists sculptured compositions in Hotel Hilton's hall of Arts, entitled "O Byzantios kai oi Neoi". 1974: He is occupied with personal research in various compositions and portraits. 1975: Lefteris Valakas participated in the 12th Panhellenic Exposition with various composition and the collection of "Kathedrika" ("Cathedrales"), in marble and brass. 1976: He executed the "Ancient Warrior" in brass in the city hall's square in the Municipality of

Argyroupoli Argyroupoli () is a town and a suburb in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Elliniko-Argyroupoli municipality, of which it is the seat and a municipal u ...

. 1977: Personal research in copper and iron. His twin sons, Costas and Nassos, are born. 1978: He participated in "Sculpture '78" exposition in Filothei and in the 2nd Outdoor Exposition of Modern Sculpture in the Conservatoire of Athens. He starts working in Ministry of Cultures in the field of classic antiquities conservation. He is also occupied with the monument conservation of

Erechtheum The Erechtheion (, Latinisation of names, latinized as Erechtheum ; , ) or Temple of Athena Polias is an Classical Greece, ancient Greek Ionic order, Ionic Ancient Greek temple, temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens, Acropolis, Athe ...

Theatre of Dionysus The Theatre of Dionysus (or Theatre of Dionysos, ) is an ancient Greek theatre in Athens. It is built on the south slope of the Acropolis hill, originally part of the sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator). The first ''orches ...

Odeon of Herodes Atticus The Odeon of Herodes Atticus (; also called Herodeion or Herodion; ) is a stone Roman theatre structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. The building was completed in AD 161 and then renovated in 1950. Ancien ...

and the

National Archaeological Museum of Athens The National Archaeological Museum () in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and ...

. 1979: He participated in the exposition entitled "The child in modern sculpture" in the hall of the Conservatoire of Athens. 1980: He is occupied with the collection "Mikroperivallon" ("Micro-environment"). This collection is influenced by the cycladic architecture of the agricultural houses. 1981: Participated in the "Dimitria" exposition in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, organized by the Panhellenic Cultural Movement. He makes the monument of "Eleftheria" in the town of

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

. He also exposes four works of his "Mikroperivallon" collection in the 5th International Biennalle of sculpture in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He set in charge of the transfer of statue of Hermes to Goulandris Museum of Andros. 1982: He displayed, along with S. Triantis and A. Fanakides four compositions in marble and iron in the "Antinor" art hall. In addition, he participates in the festival of Municipality of

Ilioupoli Ilioupoli (, " Sun City") is a suburban municipality and a town in Central Athens regional unit and located in the central-southern part of the Athens agglomeration. Its name is the modern form of the ancient name of Heliopolis in Egypt ...

. Two of his works comprise the book cover of "Logotechniko Themelio".''Logotechniko Themelio, Volume 1'' (1982), Athens, Vivlia Gia Olous His work was presented in the Museum of Modern Arts of Ionas Vorres in the town of Peania. Lefteris Valakas died unexpectedly due to heart attack in November while hunting on the island of Tinos.

Works

One of the most notable works of Lefteris Valakas is the monument of "Nike" () on the island of

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...

. It is located in the capital of the island near the port.

References

External links

Official WebsiteChamber of Fine Arts of Greece
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valakas, Lefteris 1944 births 1982 deaths Contemporary sculptors People from Tinos 20th-century Greek sculptors 20th-century Greek male artists