Michalis Tombros
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Michael Tombros (or Michalis Tombros, , 12 November 1889 – 28 May 1974) was a Greek sculptor who was influential in introducing avant-garde styles into Greece.


Life

Michael Tombros was born in Athens in 1889, son of a marble sculptor from
Korthio Korthio () is a former municipality on the island of Andros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andros, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population was 1,706 inhabitants at the 2021 ce ...
, Andros island. He attended 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 ...
from 1903 to 1909. He studied sculpture with Georgios Vroutos and
Lazaros Sochos Lazaros Sochos (; 1862–1911) was a Greek sculptor. He was born in Tinos and educated 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 i ...
, and drawing with Dimitrios Geraniotis, Alexandros Kalloudis and
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 ...
. He also worked at the marble sculpture workshop of N.M. Perakis. In 1910 he set up his own studio in Athens. In 1914 he obtained a scholarship from the estate of
George Averoff George M. Averoff (15 August 1815 – 15 July 1899), alternately Jorgos Averof or Georgios Averof (in Greek: Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ), was a Greek businessman and philanthropist. He is one of the great national benefactors of Greece. Bor ...
which let him study at the
Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...
in Paris under
Henri Bouchard Henri Bouchard (13 December 1875 – 30 November 1960), was a French sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Biography The son of a carpenter, Bouchard was born in Dijon. He w ...
and
Paul Landowski Paul Maximilien Landowski (1 June 1875 – 31 March 1961) was a French monument sculptor of Polish descent. His best-known work is '' Christ the Redeemer'' in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biography Landowski was born in Paris, France, of a Polish re ...
. Michael Tombros returned to Athens in 1919 and was appointed temporary professor of Sculpture in Architecture at the
National Technical University of Athens The National (Metsovian) Technical University of Athens (NTUA; , ''National Metsovian Polytechnic''), sometimes known as Athens Polytechnic, a university in Athens, Greece. It is named in honor of its benefactors Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tosi ...
(NTUA), while continuing to travel and to undertake commissions. He resigned from the NTUA in 1923 due to its opposition to establishment of a war museum. In 1925 he returned to Paris, where he stayed until 1928 with a workshop in Montparnasse. There he met artists such as
Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...
and
Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
. During this period he was active in exhibitions and experimented with avant-garde techniques after encountering them for the first time. After returning to Greece, between 1933 and 1934 Tombros published ''20ός Αιώνας'' (''20th Century''), an influential magazine on the visual arts. The magazine was large, well printed in black and white, with a colored cover. It was the first purely pictorial magazine in Greece, covering a range of international subjects and including criticism and commentary by artists and intellectuals such as
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
,
Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...
,
Christian Zervos Christian Zervos (; Argostoli, Cefalonia, Greece, January 1, 1889 – September 12, 1970, Paris) was a Greek-French art historian, critic, collector, writer and publisher. Better known as an art critic in his own right, Zervos founded the magazine ...
,
Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas (; February 26, 1906 – September 3, 1994), also known as Nikos Ghika, was a leading Greek painter, sculptor, engraver, writer and academic. He was a founding member of the Association of Greek Art Critics, AICA-Hellas, ...
and
Zacharias Papantoniou Zacharias Papantoniou (, ''Zacharias Papandoniou'') was a Greek writer. He was born in Karpenissi of Evrytania in February 1877 and died in Athens in 1940. He spent the first years of his life in Granitsa, where his father was a teacher. Apart f ...
. Tombros was a full professor of sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1938 to 1960, and a director of the school from 1957 to 1959. In 1943 he was appointed Director of Fine Arts at the Ministry of Education. He was elected a member of the Academy of Athens in 1968. Michael Tombros died on 28 May 1974.


Work

Sculptures by Michael Tombros were exhibited in major solo and group exhibitions including the
Salon des Artistes Francais The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...
,
Salon des Tuileries The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painters Albert Besnard and Bessie Davidson, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others. The first year's ...
and
Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...
in Paris, the 1937
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne The ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne'' (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life) was held from 25 May to 25 November 1937 in Paris, France. Both the Palais de Chaillot, housing the Mu ...
in Paris, 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 (), ...
(1934, 1938 and 1956), and 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 ...
(1955). He played an important role in encouraging development of avant-garde art in Greece, and experimented with abstraction, cubism and surrealism. However, he was not always successful in his experiments, and often followed a more conventional academic style with commissioned works. The
Municipal Art Gallery of Ioannina A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
holds examples of his sculpture.


Notes


Sources

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Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tombros, Michael 1889 births 1974 deaths Academic staff of the Athens School of Fine Arts Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Artists from Athens 20th-century Greek educators 20th-century Greek sculptors 20th-century Greek male artists