448 - Joannis Avramidis* (Batumi 1922 - 2016 Vienna)

Joannis Avramidis* (Batumi 1922 - 2016 Vienna) Three figures metal 40 x 25,5 x 5 cm signed Avramidis, numbered 55/40 SCHÄTZPREIS / ESTIMATE € 1600 - 2600 STARTPREIS / STARTING PRICE € 1600 Ioannis Avramidis was born on September 23, 1922, in Batumi on the Black Sea, the son of Pontic Greeks. After attending the State Art School in Batumi from 1937 to 1939, his family fled to Greece. During the Second World War, Avramidis was brought to Vienna as a forced laborer. Flight, displacement, and exile remained formative experiences while simultaneously deepening his lifelong connection to his Greek cultural heritage. After 1945, Avramidis initially studied painting under Robin Christian Andersen at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. From 1953, he attended Fritz Wotruba’s sculpture class; Wotruba’s tectonic approach to the human figure served as a crucial starting point for Avramidis’s own work. He completed his studies in 1956, receiving the Academy’s State Prize. Unlike Wotruba, however, Avramidis strove for symmetry, balance, and a self-contained, harmonious sculptural order. His work centers on figures, heads, torsos, and equestrian subjects. Using segments of circles and spheres, he developed rigorously rhythmic sculptures that combine modern formal reduction with influences from Greek Archaic and Classical art. Key points of reference include Constantin Brâncuşi, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Oskar Schlemmer, and Aristide Maillol, while Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore stand as counterpoints within modern sculpture. Within the context of Austrian post-war sculpture, Rudolf Hoflehner, Wander Bertoni, and Bruno Gironcoli represent distinct, progressive approaches. Werner Hofmann described Avramidis’s formal language as a "rhythm of austerity." Following early international successes—including participation in the 1956 Venice Biennale—Avramidis was awarded the Austrian State Prize for Sculpture in 1958 and the Grand Austrian State Prize in 1973. From 1965 to 1992, he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, serving as Professor of Sculpture from 1966 onwards. Ioannis Avramidis died in Vienna on January 16, 2016. PLEASE NOTE: The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights and platform fee. In the case of normal taxation (marked ° at the estimate), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax is added to the sum of the highest bid, the buyer's premium and platform fee. This amounts to 13% for paintings, drawings, graphic works and sculptures and 20% for photographs and all other items. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.