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| Image | Sale date | Auction house | Location | Sale name | Lot No. | Estimate | Price Sold | Condition | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 22, 2012 | Bonhams | London | The Greek sale | 31 | $****** - ****** | Dioskouros II |
paintings
92.5 x 73 cm (36.42 x 28.74 in)
oil on canvas
signed in Greek and dated '59' (lower right)
~
Private collection, Athens.~
~Athens, Athenian Technological Institute, Retrospective, 6-18 February 1963, no 7.~Athens, Moraitis School Society for the Study of Modern Greek Culture and of General Education, individual exhibition, 19 November-19 December, 1976, no. 16.~Athens, National Gallery and Alexander Soutzos Museum, Retrospective, 3-15 April 1983, no 44.~Athens, Gallery "3", Nikos Engonopoulos, Painting 1975-1985, November 1985, no. 14. ~Athens, Benaki Museum, N. Engonopoulos Retrospective, 22 November 2007 - 20 January 2008.~~LITERATURE:~K. Perpinioti-Agazir, Mythology, Ypsilon Books, Athens 2006, no. 39, p. 92 (illustrated).~Katerina Perpinioti-Agazir, Nikos Engonopoulos, Son Univers Pictural, Benaki Musuem, Athens 2007, p. 167, p. 463, no 625 (illustrated).~~Reminiscent of a slender Minoan immortalized on a wall painting in the Palace of Knossos or a gracefully elongated saint from an El Greco masterpiece,1 Engonopoulos's virile Dioscuros alludes to the heroism of a mythical past, faithfully reflecting the artist's attitude towards painting as an ideal vehicle to probe into the world of Greekness. "Engonopoulos gave us a version of surrealism that's universal, but at the same time deeply rooted in Greekness", notes art historian N. Loizidi.2 His persistence on indigenous cultural experiences clearly indicates that "while European surrealists used an irrational vocabulary to break free from the shackles of traditional conventions, Engonopoulos perceived tradition as a 'connecting link' that would restore cultural continuity.3 ~~The staging of a scene drawn from the treasury of Greek mythology had always been a defining feature of Engonopoulos's art in his effort to reinterpret a long and rich tradition in a modern and vigorous manner. Here he portrays one of the Dioscuri -Castor and Polydeuces- the twin offspring of Leda and Zeus disguised as a swan. The two brothers accompanied the Argonautic expedition and were considered the patron deities of seamen and voyagers. They were renowned for their brotherly love and, according to the most widespread tradition, Zeus rewarded their attachment by taking then up into the heavens and placing them among the stars, where they formed the constellation of Gemini, the Twins. ~~As noted by K. Perpinioti-Agazir, who prepared the artist's catalogue raisonné, the Dioscuri are depicted in three of Engonopoulos' works. In the fist two, painted in 1959, they are not specified by the artist but depicted individually and distinguished only as I and II. Here, the ancient hero is shown with his horse, his right leg slightly bent and the left outstretched, holding a spear in the left hand and the horse's bridle in the right.4 According to ancient sources, the Dioscuri were particularly fond of their horses5 and, as noted by Edith Hamilton,6 were always represented as riding splendid steeds. ~~"Engonopoulos wanted to make art that was Greek and he did that with great success and originality. His subjects are drawn from Greek history and mythology. However, his Greek identity -his Greekness- is not achieved merely through the artist's iconographical choices. It is also shaped by the long artistic tradition of his land, a solid foundation for his art, that charges his compositions with something from the eternal values of ancient Greek art, sense of balance, scale and harmony, something from the principles of Byzantine painting, something from folk art. As a result, the artist is credited with carrying on the tradition of Greek art from antiquity to the present."7 Central to this cross-temporal endeavour is his handling of colour, which, combined with the plasticity of the phantom-like mannequin figures creates an artistic and spiritual exaltation. In Dioscuros II, enamel-like bright reds, blues, greens and yellows, handled with daring aptitude and applied side by side without tonal gradations, much the same way as in Byzantine art, invite the viewer to a festive ritual of pure colour, recalling Franz Marc's brilliantly coloured horses. ~~1. See M. Lambraki-Plaka, The Timeless Pantheon of Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], Filologiki quarterly, October-November 2007, no. 101, p. 9.~2. N. Loizidi, Surrealism in Modern Greek Art, the Case of Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], Nefeli publ. Athens 1984, p. 181.~3. N. Loizidi, The Indigenous Surrealism of Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], To Vima daily - Nees Epoches, 21.10.2007, p. A57.~4. K. Perpinioti-Agazir, Mythology, Ypsilon Books, Athens 2006, p. 88. ~5. The Dioscuri are first mentioned in the Iliad, where they are named as Castor, tamer of horses, and Polydeuces, good with his fists (Il.3. 237-38).~6. E. Hamilton, Mythology, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, A Mentor Book editions, New York, 1942, pp. 41, 42,~7. L. Tsikouta, On Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], Eikastika magazine, no. 48, December 1985, p. 21.
~K. Perpinioti-Agazir, Mythology, Ypsilon Books, Athens 2006, no. 39, p. 92 (illustrated).~Katerina Perpinioti-Agazir, Nikos Engonopoulos, Son Univers Pictural, Benaki Musuem, Athens 2007, p. 167, p. 463, no 625 (illustrated).~~Reminiscent of a slender Minoan immortalized on a wall painting in the Palace of Knossos or a gracefully elongated saint from an El Greco masterpiece,1 Engonopoulos's virile Dioscuros alludes to the heroism of a mythical past, faithfully reflecting the artist's attitude towards painting as an ideal vehicle to probe into the world of Greekness. "Engonopoulos gave us a version of surrealism that's universal, but at the same time deeply rooted in Greekness", notes art historian N. Loizidi.2 His persistence on indigenous cultural experiences clearly indicates that "while European surrealists used an irrational vocabulary to break free from the shackles of traditional conventions, Engonopoulos perceived tradition as a 'connecting link' that would restore cultural continuity.3 ~~The staging of a scene drawn from the treasury of Greek mythology had always been a defining feature of Engonopoulos's art in his effort to reinterpret a long and rich tradition in a modern and vigorous manner. Here he portrays one of the Dioscuri -Castor and Polydeuces- the twin offspring of Leda and Zeus disguised as a swan. The two brothers accompanied the Argonautic expedition and were considered the patron deities of seamen and voyagers. They were renowned for their brotherly love and, according to the most widespread tradition, Zeus rewarded their attachment by taking then up into the heavens and placing them among the stars, where they formed the constellation of Gemini, the Twins. ~~As noted by K. Perpinioti-Agazir, who prepared the artist's catalogue raisonné, the Dioscuri are depicted in three of Engonopoulos' works. In the fist two, painted in 1959, they are not specified by the artist but depicted individually and distinguished only as I and II. Here, the ancient hero is shown with his horse, his right leg slightly bent and the left outstretched, holding a spear in the left hand and the horse's bridle in the right.4 According to ancient sources, the Dioscuri were particularly fond of their horses5 and, as noted by Edith Hamilton,6 were always represented as riding splendid steeds. ~~"Engonopoulos wanted to make art that was Greek and he did that with great success and originality. His subjects are drawn from Greek history and mythology. However, his Greek identity -his Greekness- is not achieved merely through the artist's iconographical choices. It is also shaped by the long artistic tradition of his land, a solid foundation for his art, that charges his compositions with something from the eternal values of ancient Greek art, sense of balance, scale and harmony, something from the principles of Byzantine painting, something from folk art. As a result, the artist is credited with carrying on the tradition of Greek art from antiquity to the present."7 Central to this cross-temporal endeavour is his handling of colour, which, combined with the plasticity of the phantom-like mannequin figures creates an artistic and spiritual exaltation. In Dioscuros II, enamel-like bright reds, blues, greens and yellows, handled with daring aptitude and applied side by side without tonal gradations, much the same way as in Byzantine art, invite the viewer to a festive ritual of pure colour, recalling Franz Marc's brilliantly coloured horses. ~~1. See M. Lambraki-Plaka, The Timeless Pantheon of Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], Filologiki quarterly, October-November 2007, no. 101, p. 9.~2. N. Loizidi, Surrealism in Modern Greek Art, the Case of Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], Nefeli publ. Athens 1984, p. 181.~3. N. Loizidi, The Indigenous Surrealism of Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], To Vima daily - Nees Epoches, 21.10.2007, p. A57.~4. K. Perpinioti-Agazir, Mythology, Ypsilon Books, Athens 2006, p. 88. ~5. The Dioscuri are first mentioned in the Iliad, where they are named as Castor, tamer of horses, and Polydeuces, good with his fists (Il.3. 237-38).~6. E. Hamilton, Mythology, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, A Mentor Book editions, New York, 1942, pp. 41, 42,~7. L. Tsikouta, On Nikos Engonopoulos [in Greek], Eikastika magazine, no. 48, December 1985, p. 21.
