Christina Papavasileiou, a Greek painter and the aunt of one of my earliest childhood friends. She studied in the School of Fine Art in Athens in the 1930s where she was one of the few women students and then she won a scholarship to go to Paris. This was not the 'done' thing for women at that time, and her family did not allow her to go. (The second runner upper for the scholarship was Yannis Moralis and the scholarship went to him but in the end Moralis studied in Italy, but this is not relevant to this story). Her artistic life and productivity would have been very different had she been allowed to continue her studies and allow her talent to flourish. When she died in 1982 seventy canvasses were found in her attic, all rolled up together. When her family looked at them they found real treasures indicative of a great talent and beauty.
We went to the third, very small exhibition of what has been left unsold of that discovered treasure. The majority of these paintings, which are oils, were painted in the 1930s.
Female Nude, 109x69 cm
Crucifiction, 99x69
Cypresses, 50x40
Man tearing his clothes, 60x47
The Street, 44x39
Man Deep in Thought, 61x47
Girl with Pitcher, 64x53
Girl in Blue Dress, 103x69
The Wash, 45x54
Water Mill, 46x60
Woods, 35x28
Young Woman, 45x38
Young Woman with Red Scarf, 45x33
Woman in Brown Dress, 48x39
Entrance, 26x34
Man Wearing Glasses, 45x35
Woman, 45x35
Aren't they stunning.
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