An important donation of two works of art by great Greek painters was received today (01/03) by the Municipal Gallery of Thessaloniki. One work by Yannis Spyropoulos and one by Nikos Kessanlis, which were received by the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Konstantinos Zervas, from the donor Annoula Kofokotsiou.

Yannis Spyropoulos and Nikos Kessanlis are two of the most important Greek painters of the 20th century. Konstantinos Zervas expressed his warmest thanks to the donor for her important contribution, stating that from today these two great works will be the property of all the people of Thessaloniki.

According to Margarita Salpigidou, Head of the Municipal Gallery Department, these are works of great artistic value, as they are early and therefore rare. Specifically, the works included in the Municipal Gallery’s collection as a donation from Annoula Kofokotsiou are the following: 1. early work by Yannis Spyropoulos, “Houses on top of Kalavryta”, 1949-1950, oil on canvas; 2. early work by Nikos Kessanlis, “The Olive Tree”, 1949, oil on canvas.

Annoula Kofokotsiou, the only daughter of the tobacco merchant Basil Con. Kofokotsiou (1903-1987) and Evangelia (Hatzouda) Con. Rountou (1905-1985), daughter of a well-known tobacco merchant family, was born in Nigrita, Serres. During the interwar period she boarded at the Aglaia Schina Girls’ Training School in Thessaloniki, but with the beginning of World War II she returned to Nigrita. After the liberation she returned with her mother to Thessaloniki. She initially studied at the Korai Schools and graduated in 1948 from the Aglaia Schinas Girls’ Schools with Manolis Andronikos as her teacher. Since then she has lived and worked permanently in the centre of Thessaloniki. In Athens, around 1949, Nikos Kessanlis, who was the same age as her, gave her one of his first paintings, together with a painting by his teacher, Yannis Spyropoulos. The reason for this gift was the warm family and personal relationship that developed after their parents’ marriage. Namely, the divorced father of Annoula, Vasileios with the divorced mother of Kessanlis, Riri (Eleftheria) Spanoudaki.