Greek academic art of the 19th century

[2] In addition, after centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities existed for young artist in Greece itself, immediately after independence, so studying abroad was imperative for them.

Munich was an important international center for the arts and was the place where the majority of Greek artists of the 19th century would choose to study; a minority would go to Paris.

[3] The works of the Munich school painters are characterized by an expert but over-use of colours that would overshadow the figures' expressions.

In academic realism the imperative is the ethography, the representation of urban and/or rural life with a special attention in the depiction of architectural elements, the traditional cloth and the various objects.

Artists belonging to the Munich School include the first painters of free Greece, such as Theodoros Vryzakis (1814–1878) and Dionysios Tsokos (1820–1862).

[2][4] The end of the movement started when some Greek painters after the mid-19th century such as Periclis Pantazis (1849–1884) departed from academic realism towards impressionism and the final end occurred when expressionist Nikolaos Lytras (1883–1927), Georgios Roilos, and Konstantinos Parthenis (1878–1967) started to teach at the Athens School of Fine Arts.