Background
Jannis was born on March 12, 1912, in Pylos, Peloponnese. Son of Georges J. Spyropoulos and Phigalia G. J. Spyropoulos.
Jannis was born on March 12, 1912, in Pylos, Peloponnese. Son of Georges J. Spyropoulos and Phigalia G. J. Spyropoulos.
Jannis Spyropoulos studied at the Athens Art Academy between 1933 and 1938. In 1938 he was awarded a travel scholarship for Paris, where he continued his studies at the "École des Beaux-Arts" and private academies. Spyropoulos returned to Greece in 1940 but did not have a one-man show until 1950, in Athens.
At that time Spyropoulos turned to abstraction, inspired by French painting, notably the work of Paul Cézanne. Jannis Spyropoulos developed a personal style poised between tectonic composition and ferociously spontaneous brushwork. Using the handle of his brush, Spyropoulos would incise a nervy network of lines into the film of paint. One of the constants of Spyropoulos' painting is his palette, in which he always remained true to the scenery of his native land. It evokes brown earth and grey rock short through with the cool brilliance of a blue sky, the sea and the crisp clarity of the Aegean atmosphere.
Spyropoulos' abstract work represents an important contribution to the rich field of contemporary Greek art. The more abstract his work became, the more successful Spyropoulos became internationally. His work was shown at international exhibitions, including the World House Galleries in New York in 1959, the "Neue Galerie im Künstlerhaus", München, in 1962, and the National Collection of Fine Arts at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, in 1969.
Spyropoulos was the first Greek artist to be represented at "Documenta" in Kassel, showing work at "Documenta III" in 1964. He was awarded numerous distinctions and prizes. At the 1960 30th Venice Biennale Spyropoulos was honored with the "UNESCO" prize for his "ORACLE"; he was the first Greek to have received a prize at the Biennale.
In 1976 Spyropoulos fulfilled a dream by buying a house in Ekali. Studio, dwelling and museum under one roof, it used to house the Spyropoulos Foundation, until 2015. In his late work Spyropoulos intensively worked over painted surfaces and reverted to his 1960s collages.
Jannis Spyropoulos died in his house at Ekali in 1990. A retrospective of his work was shown in several Greek cities in 1994 and at the National Gallery in Athens from late June 1995.
MAJOR SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1950 "Parnassos", Athens (Dec 1 – 30) [62 paintings]
1959 World House Galleries, New York, USA (Jul 13 – Aug 28) [20 paintings]
1960 Art Gallery "TECHNI", Thessaloniki (Nov 12 – 30) [30 paintings]
1961 World House Galleries, New York, USA (Apr 4 – 29), exhibition catalogue foreword by J. P. Hodin [35 paintings]
1961 Galleria Gian Ferrari, Milan, Italy (May 2 – 14) [15 paintings]
1961 Molton Gallery, London, UK (May 10 – 27), exhibition catalogue foreword by J. P. Hodin [25 paintings]
1961 Kursaal, Kultureel Centrum - Oostende, Belgium (Jul 1 – 31), exhibition catalogue foreword by Roger de Kinder [29 paintings]
1962 Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, USA (Apr 5 - 29) [22 paintings]
1962 Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, New Mexico, USA (Apr 15 – May 25), exhibition catalogue foreword by Kenneth Foster, introduction by Eugene Smith [32 paintings]
1962 Neue Galerie in Künstlerhaus, München, Germany (May 18 – Jun 16), exhibition catalogue foreword by Themistokles Tsatsos & Umbro Apollonio [21 paintings]
1962 Institute of Art History, Mainz, Germany (Jun 26 – Jul 20), exhibition catalogue foreword by Friedrich Gerke [55 paintings]
1962 Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill., USA (Oct 13 – Nov 4), exhibition catalogue foreword by Cecil Donovan [35 paintings]
1963 Jerrold Morris International Gallery, Toronto, Canada (Apr 6 – 24), exhibition catalogue foreword by J. P. Hodin
1963 World House Galleries, New York, USA (Apr 30 – May 25), exhibition catalogue foreword by Allen Weller [37 paintings]
1963 Theater der Stadt Lünen, Westfalen, Germany (Oct 27 – Nov 17), exhibition catalogue foreword by Allen Weller [50 paintings]
1964 Scheaffer Gallery, Grinnell College of Art, Iowa, USA
1964 Frankische Galerie, Nürnberg, Germany (May 28 – Jun 21), exhibition catalogue foreword by Gerhardt Mammel [50 paintings]
1964 Galerie des Deux Mondes, TWA Flight Center, JF Kennedy Airport, New York, USA, exhibition catalogue foreword by Rex Werner [17 paintings]
1964 Frankfurter Kunstkabinett, Frankfurt, Germany (Sep 25 – Oct 24), exhibition catalogue foreword by Wilhelm Weber [21 paintings]
1964 Palais des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, Belgium (Nov 12 – 24), exhibition catalogue foreword by Michel Ragon [56 paintings]
1965 David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia (Mar 10 – 27), exhibition catalogue foreword by Charles Spencer [28 paintings]
1965 Galerie Arnaud, Paris, France (Nov) [25 paintings]
1966 The Israel National Museum of Art, Jerusalem, Israel (Dec 27 – Jan 25 1967), exhibition catalogue foreword by Karl Katz [25 paintings]
1967 Hilton Art Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus (Apr), co organized with Cyprus’ Ministry of Education
1968 Hilton Art Gallery, Athens (opening on Jan 26), organized by "ΑΓΕΤ Ηρακλής – Όλυμπος" [32 paintings]
1968 David Jones’ Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia (Sep 25 – Oct 11) [32 paintings]
1969 Byron Gallery, New York, USA (Apr 9 – May 7) [36 paintings]
1969 National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA (Sep 1 – Oct 19), exhibition catalogue foreword by Allen Weller [26 paintings]
1969 Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, USA (Nov 11 – Dec 7) [26 paintings]
1971 David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia (Nov 9 – 27), exhibition catalogue foreword by Charles Spencer [27 paintings]
1974 David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia (Aug 15 – 31), exhibition catalogue foreword by Robert Haines [17 paintings]
1986 Gallery "New Forms", Athens (opening Dec 4), exhibition catalogue foreword by Helen Vakalo, introduction by Charis Kambourides
1994 "Astrolavos" Gallery, exhibition catalogue foreword by Takis Mavrotas [21 paintings]
Married to Zoe Margaritis on February 27, 1957.