50 - THEOFILOS HADJIMICHAEL (1871–1934)

THEOFILOS HADJIMICHAEL (1871–1934) Village on Lesbos natural pigments on cardboard 67.5 x 97 cm. (26.57 × 38.19 in.) natural pigments on cardboard Footnotes: Provenance Taktikos collection. Private collection, Athens. Imbued with a spirit of untrained simplicity and executed with confident brushwork and vibrant color, this engaging painting reflects Theofilos’s fascination with rural life and the natural environment of his native Mytilene. Theofilos had vivid impressions of everyday pastoral activities, as the island was home to a significant population of a local breed of sheep. Furthermore, since Homeric times, flocks had constituted the primary form of wealth and the principal means of payment in the region.1 The scene teems with motion and activity. Alongside the grazing sheep, a woman milks a cow, two others carry pails of milk, a man strokes a calf’s head, and another—carrying the ubiquitous kariofili musket and dressed in the traditional fustanella kilt (Theofilos’s signature attribute)—plays his shepherd’s pipe. The scene is rounded out with goats, ducks, and dogs—essential for safeguarding both people and animals. Every part of the picture is an integral part of the whole, evoking a sense of home and domesticity. Everything seems to grow right out of the landscape. The painter O. Kanellis, one of the first to discover Theofilos’s work, made the following insightful remark: “Without realizing it, Theofilos sought to illuminate the truth of Greek nature, with people as part of it.” His paintings are fields of shapes and patches of color that are integral to the natural environment, helping him express an overall feeling emanating from life itself—a feeling based on pure vision and the observation of nature. When we view an outdoor scene by Theofilos, we hardly feel as though we are seeing the landscape from a distance; rather, we feel as though we are living within it, actually walking through it. Any sense of distance is eliminated, and we find ourselves surrounded by lush trees, pristine grasslands, and crystal-clear waters in a lucid, diaphanous atmosphere. Only Bonnard and Theofilos were able to convey this feeling.'2 1. See G. Petris, The Painter Theofilos [in Greek], Exandas editions, Athens 1978, p. 55. 2. O. Kanellis, “The Painter Theofilos” [in Greek], Tachydromos magazine, no. 379, July 15, 1961. Auction House Notices: *Please note that due to Greek regulations, this lot cannot be exported from Greece and will be available for viewing and inspection in Athens by appointment or during the Athens Preview. This work will remain in Athens during the auction. *Please note that due to Greek regulations, this lot cannot be exported from Greece and will be available for viewing and inspection in Athens either by appointment or during the Athens Preview. This work will be located in Athens during the auction. For further information on this lot, please visit Bonhams.com