The exceptional Greek painter of the sea, Konstantinos Volanakis, “returns” back to Crete, the island he was born on, for the first time. The 57 artworks of the imperial that painted imperial triumphs, of the glorious moments of Greek History, but also of humble fishing boats, make up the exhibition “Konstantinos Volanakis: Nostos of the sea, artworks from the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation” which will be held at the Municipal Art Gallery of Chania and has been placed under the auspices of Her Excellence, the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. The exhibition also includes oil paintings belonging to the Hellenic Navy, the Hellenic Parliament and the Bank of Greece.

“If a Greek visual artist can “claim” that he faced the immensity of the sea, then he is none other than Konstantinos Volanakis (1837-1907). His artistic production, spanning over half a century, covering almost the entire second half of the 19th and the first years of the 20th century, produced a set of works unsurpassed, quantitatively and qualitatively.

The fact that his art was not rewarded, at least as much as he should have been, during his lifetime has to do with the state of modern Greek art and more broadly with the historical facts in Greece of his time; the fact that today he is now duly honored – and overrated, in terms of commerciality – is again related to the facts of modern Greek reality.

The Burning of the Turkish Flagship, 1890-95 (oil on canvas, 79 x 154 cm) – Collection of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation

What is certain is that Konstantinos Volanakis rendered with his paintbrushes the sea and, above all, its world, in a unique way, thus enshrining, artistically and culturally, the most emblematic element and field of the Greek world, seamanship”, he notes among other things the curator of the exhibition, Art historian and curator of the art collection of the Hellenic Parliament, Thodoris Koutsoyiannis.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a colored fully illustrated bilingual (Greek-English) catalogue.

Through the duration of this exhibition, organized guided tours for adults and educational programs for students of all school grades will be scheduled.

INFORMATION

Municipal Art Gallery of Chania

98-102, Chalidon Street

Tel: +30 28210 92294 και  +30 28210 92419

Web: www.pinakothiki-chania.gr

Facebook & Instagram: @MunicipalArtGalleryChania