Alekos Kontopoulos, Lumière Votive (Votive Light)

The turn to abstraction

The work is part of Kontopoulos’ mature creative period. From 1947 onwards, the artist turned to abstraction and actively defended his choice.

This shift is part of a broader change that marked Greek art after the war. Artists of his generation sought new ways of expression and turned more to contemporary international artistic trends.

Influences and artistic style

The work combines elements from the French art informel, also known as formless art, and the lyrical abstraction of the 1950s. Kontopoulos experienced these artistic movements first-hand and incorporated elements from them into his own artistic language.

The composition of the painting

The composition is organised around sharp contrasts. A dark, almost architectural mass dominates the left part. In the centre, a white and green surface evokes a gateway of light, while a vertical red incision creates a powerful, dramatic axis. The work does not tell a specific story, but it creates pure artistic tension.

His life in a nutshell

Alekos Kontopoulos (1904-1975) was born in Lamia. He studied Painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1923 until 1929, under Georgios Iakovidis, Dimitris Geraniotis, Pavlos Mathiopoulos and Nikolaos Lytras. He continued his studies in Paris until 1932. There he studied under P. Le Doux and H. Morisset.

He visited Paris again in 1935 to attend classes at the École des Beaux Arts, the Académie Colarossi and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In 1939 he returned to Greece. We worked at the National Archaeological Museum from 1941 to 1969.

During the German Occupation of Greece, he was part of the Resistance and created a series of drawings and prints with relevant subjects.

Artistic influences

During his stay in Paris, Kontopoulos came into contact with every modern art trend. At first he was not influenced by them.

He travelled to Belgium to study Flemish painting. During the interwar years, he developed a representational/realistic painting style.

As of the 1950s he gradually turned to a more expressionistic painting style. This led him to purely abstract renderings, and he turned to aniconic and abstract painting.

A pioneer of abstract painting

Kontopoulos was one of the main representatives of abstraction in modern-Greek art. His studies in Paris played a decisive role in this ground-breaking style development. In Paris the painter came into contact with all abstract trends.

He initially started from representational or figurative painting. However, as of the late 40s, he started working with abstraction and aniconic painting: shifting, that is, from the perceivable world and its representation on the painting surface.

In fact, he defended abstract painting both through his pieces and writings. In 1949, together with some of his colleagues, he founded and headed the group “Oi Akraioi” (The Extremists). The purpose of the group was to make abstract forms more known in Greece.

A recognised artist

Kontopoulos presented his work in solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad.

Notably, he took part in the São Paulo Biennale in 1953, 1955 (he was honoured with a silver medal) and 1957, and also in the Alexandria Biennale (1959) and Venice Biennale (1960).

In 1976 a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the National Gallery. In 1950 AICA Hellas recommended him for the Guggenheim award.

In 1973 he was awarded the 1st State Prize. Kontopoulos refused to accept it, in protest against the Junta regime.

Alekos Kontopoulos at Alpha Bank

The Alpha Bank Art Collection also includes the following works by the artist:

• Vacation Home

The work of art in our publications

The piece Lumière Votive (Votive Light) by A. Kontopoulos is featured in the following Alpha Bank publications:

• The Alpha Bank Collection. Paintings – Prints – Sculptures, 2005
• The Alpha Bank Collection. Greek Art from 1920 until Today, 2006
• The Alpha Bank Collection. Greek Art from 1950 until Today (Cyprus), 2008

The piece Lumière Votive (Votive Light) is exhibited at the Alpha Bank branch, 12-14 Pesmazoglou Street, Athens.

You can visit it by appointment. You can visit it by appointment. Contact us to book your visit.