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Nikos Engonopoulos (; October 21, 1907 – October 31, 1985) was a
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 ...
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 ...
and
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
. He is one of the most important members of "
Generation of the '30s The Generation of the '30s () was a group of Greek writers, poets, artists, intellectuals, critics, and scholars who made their debut in the 1930s and introduced modernism in Greek art and literature. The Generation of the '30s is also cited as a so ...
", as well as a major representative of the
surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
movement in Greece. His work as a writer also includes critique and essays.


Biography

Nikos Engonopoulos was born 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 ...
in 1907 and was the second son of Panagiotis and Errietti (Henrietta) Engonopoulos. During the summer of 1914, when Engonopoulos' family went on a trip to
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
were obliged to settle there, due to the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1923, he was enrolled in a
lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...
in Paris, where he studied for a period of four years. After his return 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 ...
, he joined the Army in order to fulfil the mandatory military service. Later on, he worked as a
translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
in a
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
and as a secretary at the University of Athens. From 1930 to 1933 Engonopoulos worked as a
design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...
er in the Urban Planning Department of the Greek Ministry of Public Works. In 1932 he joined the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Konstantinos Parthenis, Dimitrios Biskinis, Thomas Thomopoulos and Yannis Kefallinos. He also attended classes at the art studio of Photis Kontoglou and studied Byzantine art under Andreas Xyngopoulos. During that time he met important artists like the poet Andreas Embirikos and the painters Yannis Tsarouchis, Giorgio de Chirico and Yannis Moralis. Later Engonopoulos credited Embirikos and de Chirico as his major surrealist influences. His first paintings, mostly
tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...
s on paper depicting old houses, were presented at an ''Art of Modern Greek Tradition'' exhibition, organised in January 1938. Soon after the exhibition, he published translations of poems by
Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, c ...
, which were published in February. A few months later, his first collection of poems (''Do Not Distract the Driver'') was published, followed by a second one (''The Clavicembalos of Silence'') the next year. Overall he is considered one of the finest surrealist poets of Greece. Engonopoulos made his first individual exhibition in 1939. Three years later, he finished his most popular long poem ''Bolivar, a Greek Poem'', inspired by the revolutionary leader
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
and published in 1944. The poem was also released in the form of a song, in 1968, with music composed by Nikos Mamangakis. After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he became one of the founding members of the Art group '' Armos''. In 1954, he was selected to represent Greece in Biennale of Venice and the following year later, he participated in the Biennale of São Paulo. In 1958, he won the First Poetry Award of the Greek Ministry of Education and in 1966 received the Gold Cross of George I for his contribution to Arts. In 1967 he was elected professor of painting 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 ...
, and held this position until 1973 when he retired. He died of a heart attack in 1985 in Athens. Engonopoulos was married twice; first he married the artist Nelly Andrikopoulou from 1950 to 1954 and in 1960 till death he married Eleni Tsiokou with whom he had one daughter. Engonopoulos is considered as the introducer of the Greek surrealism and also its main representative. His works are noted for the combination of elements from tradition, history, religion and the contemporary period mixed with his own sarcastic attitude. Engonopoulos' 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 ...
, Benaki Museum, 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 ...
, the Museum of Modern Greek Art of Rhodes etc.


See also

* Andreas Embirikos * Art in modern Greece *
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 ...


Notes


Sources

* Th
''Official Nikos Engonopoulos website''
* Eleni Kefala
''Peripheral (Post) Modernity''
Peter Lang, 2007. * Takis Mavrotas (ed.), Νίκος Εγγονόπουλος. Ο Ορφέας του Υπερρεαλισμού, The B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music, 2022.


External links


Engonopoulos, official sitePoetry International Web
- Article on Engonopoulos, by Haris Vlavianos. Also contains link to the full text of ''Bolivar''.
Artist's works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egonopoulos, Nikos 1907 births 1985 deaths Artists from Athens Academic staff of the National Technical University of Athens Greek surrealist writers Modern Greek poets Generation of the '30s Greek surrealist artists Surrealist poets Arvanites 20th-century Greek poets 20th-century Greek painters Poets from Athens