Emmanuel Zairis

Background

Emmanuel Zairis was born in 1871 in Greece.

Education

In 1894 Zairis became a pupil of Nicholas Gysis at the Munich Academy.

Career

Emmanuel stayed in the Bavarian capital until 1932 and during that time participated in nearly all the exhibitions at the Glaspalast, where he won a gold medal in 1913. Having returned to Greece he became head of the School of Fine Arts on Mykonos. He had a large retrospective exhibition at Zappeion Hall in 1934 and was one of the Greek representatives to the Venice Biennale in 1936. The artist died in 1948.

Achievements

• Emmanuel Zairis was highly famous for his paintings "A moment's rest", "The Old Egg Seller", "Portrait of Iakoveena", and "Fisherman."

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Figure in a rowing boat

  • Girl in the vegetable garden

  • The lovers

  • Aeneas saving his father through the flames of Troy

  • The Old Egg Seller

  • Sewing nets

  • A moment's rest

  • Fishermen

  • Mowers

  • The Carnival in Athens

  • Two fishermen

  • Child with cat

  • Women ironing

  • Portrait of Iakoveena

  • Fisherman

  • Smith

  • The Demonstration

  • Girl sitting in the grass

  • Nude Model

Views

Emmanuel Zairis adhered to the artistic traditions of Impressionism. Freeing himself from the academic doctrines of the Munich Academy, Zairis followed more progressive trends which held sway in Munich and arrived at a realistic depiction of scenes inspired by working class life. Rather than conform to a traditional rendition of space, Zairis created depth that merged seamlessly into a flattened picture plane, out of which emerged the seated figure of the woodcutter. Illuminated from behind, the dark figure stood out and thus highlighted became the focal point of the composition, eliciting a strong visual, as well as emotional response.