Landscape
Artist
Konstantinos Maleas
(1879 - 1928 )
Date1917-20
MediumOil on hardboard
Dimensions33.2 x 36.8 cm
Collection No231
DescriptionAn
innovator in Greek painting and predominantly a painter of landscapes,
Konstantinos Maleas developed a personal artistic idiom building on
impressionist and post-impressionist elements from the Nabis and the Fauves, as
well as his first-hand contact with the landscapes of the Orient. In "Landscape",
the impasto technique shapes the surfaces of the rocks, sky and clouds, but
also of the water. Bold contours define the forms, giving them a monumental
air, while the flattening and stylisation echo the decorative patterns of
Japanese painting and the Art Nouveau, moving the overall composition away from
descriptiveness and endowing it with symbolist connotations.