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Konstantinos Volanakis
The port of Volos
1885-1890
oil on canvas
15 x 32 cm
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The port of Volos has been rendered with large brushstrokes, without the recognisable detailed references of similar paintings, but with obvious realistic elements. On the left, on the wharf, a carriage and a pedestrian are depicted in front of the buildings, and other human figures can be spotted close to the anchorage, which is full of anchored sailboats. On the right, the port with its calm waters stretches out in all its splendour, surrounded on all sides by a long strip of semi-mountainous land. In the distance, two sailboats with taut sails are travelling across the sea, while a three-masted sailing steamship is stood offshore in the centre. An enchanting painting with bright streaks gleaming across the sky and sea.

This work, which is reminiscent of the same-titled paintings “Moonlit harbour of Volos” (1895-1900) and “Moonlit harbour of Volos” (n.d.), has been painted from the same perspective as those, but the pictorial rendering is entirely different, very strongly reminiscent of impressionist principles, with selective abstractions and no outlines.

Bibliography


Takis Mavrotas (curator), Constantinos Volanakis: The Father of Greek Seascape Painting, exhibition catalogue, B&M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts, Athens 2018, p. 110.

Thodoris Koutsogiannis (curator), Constantinos Volanakis: Nostos of the Sea. Artworks from the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation collection, exhibition catalogue, Municipal Art Gallery of Chania, p. 75.

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