Participation in the exhibition “Panayiotis Tetsis: The Obsession of the Gaze”

The Alpha Bank Art Collection is participating in the exhibition with 6 works by Panayiotis Tetsis:

1. Athens, 1965-70, Oil on canvas 138 x 138 cm
2. Balconies, Drypoint 38 x 10 cm
3. Street Market, Coloured aquatint 22 x 49.3 cm
4. Athenian roofs, Aquatint 16.5 x 34.6 cm
5. Cups, Aquatint 15.5 x 21 cm
6. Field hut, Sifnos, Aquatint 59 x 83 cm

Additionally, the Art Collection has also loaned part of the copper and steel printmaking plates that the artist had personally donated to it.

100 years since the artist’s birth

The National Gallery retrospective exhibition marks the centenary of Panayiotis Tetsis’ birth and features a total of 160 of his works, with 64 sourced from private and institutional collections.

The exhibition is split into thematic sections, such as:

• The street market
• The landscapes of Hydra and Sifnos
• Still life
• Portraits of friends and partners

The exhibits highlight the artist’s unique perspective, and focus on the light and colour marking his works.

The exhibition is curated by Efi Agathonikou.

A high number of works

The Alpha Bank Art Collection features a total of:

• 14 paintings
• 77 prints
• 89 copper printmaking plates

A painting from the Street Market series is displayed on the ground floor of Alpha Bank’s Central Branch at 12 Pesmazoglou Street. The work engages in a dialogue with similar National Gallery paintings welcoming visitors at its entrance.

A significant donation by the artist

In 2005 Panayiotis Tetsis proposed to donate to the Alpha Bank Art Collection all the copper printmaking plates remaining in his studio, created from 1956, when he started experimenting with printmaking, to the late 1980s.

Alpha Bank committed to preserving the plates and printing a new edition using them. The 89 copper printmaking plates were gradually received by 2008.

Printing the invaluable copperplates

First, the prints were catalogued and photographed. Research was also conducted to identify the subjects depicted. Then, the Athens Printmaking Art Centre, run by Dimitra Siaterli and Pino Pandolfini, undertook the cleaning, restoration and printing process.

A total of 68 prints were created, including:

• 58 in black and white
• 10 in colour

For the coloured ones, 2 to 5 plates were printed, one for each colour in the composition. Panayiotis Tetsis, as an experienced printmaker, often visited the studio, making corrections and suggestions on using black ink and best rendering the intensity of colours.

The themes in Tetsis’ prints

The themes in the prints created were the same as those of Panayiotis Tetsis’ paintings:

• Still life
• Boats and shipyards
• Interior views of his studio
• The landscapes of Sifnos and Hydra
• Depictions of the Xenokratous Street Market