Theofilos

This article is about the Greek painter. For the ferry named after him see Theofilos (ship) .

Theofilos , also Theophilos, Greek Θεόφιλος , (* around 1870 in Lesbos ; † March 22, 1934 ibid) was a Greek naive painter.

Career

His full name was Theofilos Chatzimichail (also Hatzimichail, Greek Θεόφιλος Χατζημιχαήλ ).

The exact year of birth of Theofilos is not known. It is certain that he was born on the island of Lesbos between 1867 and 1870. His father Gabriel Kephalas was a shoemaker, his mother, Penelopi Chatzimichail, was the daughter of an icon painter.

Theofilos showed mediocre academic performance as a child, but he had an early interest in painting, which he got to know from his grandfather.

Theofilo's youth was difficult. At the age of 18 he left the family and went to Smyrna , where he worked as a porter at the Greek consulate. He stayed there for a few years before settling in the Thessalian city of Volos in search of work around 1897 . There he earned money by decorating houses and shops with wall paintings. Wall paintings from this period have been preserved. He spent most of his life on Mount Pelion . During this time the landowner Ioannis Kontos took care of him, on whose behalf he created many of his works. The house of Kontos is now a Theofilos Museum.

Theofilos: Adamantios Korais and Rigas Fereos are helping Greece to rise

Theofilos, who - often under the mockery of his contemporaries - also liked to dress in the Greek national costume with the short pleated skirt Fustanella in his private life , dealt with painting as well as organizing popular theater performances on national holidays and at carnival. He himself played the main role, either disguised as Alexander the Great or as a hero of the Greek War of Liberation. He made the costumes himself.

He did not return to Lesbos until 1927. It is said that he left Volos after an argument in a kafenion after someone pushed him off a ladder he had climbed to paint a mural to amuse himself. For a small reward, usually a plate of food and a little wine, he continued to paint pictures. Many of his paintings from this period have been lost, either due to natural decay or destruction by their owners.

In Lesbos he was met by the respected art critic and publisher Stratis Eleftheriades (known as Tériade ), who lives in Paris . Elefhteriades is largely thanks to the recognition and esteem for the works of Theofilos as well as his international fame, which only occurred after Theofilos' death. He died in 1934, likely of food poisoning. A year later his pictures were exhibited in the Louvre as examples of popular painting.

The Theofilos Museum was opened on Lesbos in 1964 at the expense of Eleftheriades. It is located in Theophilos' native village Variá, now a suburb of Mytilene.

Works (selection)

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  Alexander the Great

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  Erotokritos and Arethousa

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  Kolokotronis on Lake Lerni

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  Eudoxia

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  Emperor Konstantinos Paleologos

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  Theseus

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  Large bakery

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  Fishmonger

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  Athanasios Diakos

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  The fight of Achilles

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  Athena and Artemis

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  Artemis, goddess of the hunt

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  Karaiskakis fights against the Turks

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  The death of the botsari

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  Lyre player

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  The fearless Katsandonis

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  Pavlos Melas

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  The robber Davelis

Web link

• Homepage of the Theofilos Museum in Varia with pictures of some pictures (Greek)