Modern Greek art

After centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities for an education in the arts existed in the newly independent Greece, so studying abroad was imperative for artists.

Munich, as an important international center for the arts at that time, was the place where the majority of the Greek artists of the 19th century chose to study.

In the school of Munich, led by Karl von Piloty, true fresco was taught for mural paintings on fresh wet lime plaster.

Many of these Munich School artists chose subjects such as everyday Greek life, local customs, and living conditions.

[3] Notable sculptors of the new Greek Kingdom were Leonidas Drosis (his major work was the extensive neo-classical architectural ornament at the Academy of Athens), Lazaros Sochos, Georgios Vitalis, Dimitrios Filippotis, Ioannis Kossos, Yannoulis Chalepas, Georgios Bonanos and Lazaros Fytalis.

Jacob Rizos was involved with the rendering of female grace, Theodoros Rallis with scenes from the Orthodox East and Nikolaos Xydias Typaldos with portraiture, still life and genre painting.

The first Greek impressionist was Périclès Pantazis who, after Paris, settled in Belgium and became a part of the avant-garde group Circle de la pâte.

Themes-artistic depictions Many Greek artists of this period also drew upon El Greco's style for inspiration, particularly when creating art based on religious themes.

At the beginning of the 20th century landscape painting held sway and the interest of painters turned toward the study of light and color.

In the early 20th century Demetrios Galanis, a contemporary and friend of Picasso, achieved wide recognition in France and lifelong membership of the Académie française following his acclaim by the critic Andre Malreaux as an artist capable "of stirring emotions as powerful as those of Giotto".

Later in the century Nikos Engonopoulos achieved international recognition with his surrealist conceptions both of painting and poetry, while in the late 1960s Dimitris Mytaras and Yiannis Psychopedis became associated with European critical realism.

Konstantinos Parthenis, in particular, introduces historical, religious and mythological elements that allow the classification of Greek painting into modern art.

Other notable Greek artists are Hermon di Giovanno, Varotsos, Dimitris Mytaras, Spyros Vassiliou, Alekos Fassianos, Theocharis Mores, Dimitris Koukos (1948-), Nikos Stratakis, Steven Antonakos, Kostas Tsoklis, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Thanassis Stephopoulos, Aggelika Korovessi, and Yiannis Melanitis.