Symeon Savvidis

Symeon Savvidis ( Greek Συμεών Σαββίδης ; * 1859 in Eudoxia, today Tokat ; † February 1927 in Athens ; also transcribed Symeon Sabbides) was a Greek painter and one of the most important representatives of the Munich school of painting .

Life

Savvidis came from a wealthy merchant family in Asia Minor. One day he was supposed to continue running the business, so his parents sent him to study at the commercial school on the island of Chalki , near Constantinople. After graduating from business school, he studied architecture at the National Technical University of Athens. He later studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1880 to 1887 . He was a student of Nikolaus Gysis , Ludwig von Löfftz and Wilhelm von Diez . Savvidis stayed in Munich until his return to Greece in 1925. His stay in Germany was only interrupted by a few trips to his homeland in Asia Minor, where he gathered inspiration for his works. His pictures have been shown at many international exhibitions in Athens, Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, Vienna, Paris and London. In 1925 he returned to Athens impoverished and seriously ill, where he died two years later.

Works

Savvidis is considered one of the most important Greek painters of the 19th century. His works deal with the human being and the Orient. In his works he was looking for the perfect pictorial representation and perfect color harmony. Characteristic examples of his work are the oil paintings The Ignition of the Pipe (1898), the masterful painting Study of Colors (1910) and the Impressionist boats on the waters of the Bosporus (1903).

He presented his views on painting in his book Works and Ancillary Works (or Works and Ancillary Works ; Greek Erga kai Parerga ). He published the book in German. The original draft of this book is kept in the National Gallery of Greece .

Art historians classify Savvidis as one of the Orientalists of the Munich School, who mainly dealt with Eastern subjects. However, in the last years of his life he put nature at the center of his paintings.

gallery

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  Lighting the Pipe ( Το άναμμα του τσιμπουκιού ), 1898, oil on canvas, 85 × 56 cm, National Gallery (Athens)

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  Boats on the waters of the Bosporus ( Βάρκες στα νερά του Βοσπόρου ), 1903, oil on panel , 35 × 50 cm, National Gallery (Athens)

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  Farbstudie ( Μελέτη χρωμάτων ), 1910, oil on canvas, 60 × 50 cm, National Gallery (Athens)

literature

• Savvidis, Symeon . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 29 : Rosa – Scheffauer . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1935.
• Marilena Z. Kasimati: Symeon Savvidis. Hi zoi kai to ergo tu. Adam-Pergamos, Athina 2006, ISBN 960-500-440-2 (Greek).
• Spyros Dimitrios Kypriotis: Symeon Savvidis. Sympliromatika chromata. Tumpis, Athina 2010, ISBN 978-960-93-1995-9 (Greek).

Web links

Commons : Symeo Savvidis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Greek-language newspaper article on Sabbides; "O atithasos Savvidis", in German "The Shrewd Savvidis"
• Short biography with photo series Σαββίδης Συμεών in the National Gallery of Athens (English / Greek)
• Special exhibition at the National Gallery of Athens May 22, 2006 - September 23, 2006