Supervisors info:
Δημήτρης Παυλόπουλος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Ιστορίας της Τέχνης, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Ευθυμία Μαυρομιχάλη, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Ιστορίας της Τέχνης, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Δήμητρα Λαμπροπούλου, Λέκτορας Νεότερης Ελληνικής Ιστορίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
George Varlamos (1922-2013) was a significant Greek painter-engraver, who was systematically occupied with book illustration. As a student of a great master, John Kephallinos (1894-1957), he was trained in graphic arts both in Greece and abroad, so as to evolve in one of the most prolific Greek illustrators of the 20th century.
His rich artistic production involved numerous series of independent paintings and prints, inspired basically by the world of nature, and works which derived from his occupation with graphic arts (books, posters, stamps, calendars, logos). In painting he used mainly mediums such as acrylic paints and watercolors, while in printmaking he experimented equally on the three traditional techniques (woodcut – etching – lithography). He treated equally both arts, emphasizing that “he was painting like an engraver and he was engraving like a painter”.
The books that he illustrated and edited aesthetically are more than 200 in number, while they vary both in context (literary, scientific, children’s books, albums) and in form (over their shape, glyphs and illustration). Among them two major artistic editions are included, Ten White Lekythoi in the National Museum (1957), which arose from the collaboration of John Kephallinos with Louise Montesantou (1917-2007), Nick Damianakis (1920-2005) and George Varlamos and functioned for the latter as a benchmark in the following years, and the Tragedies of Sophocles (1973) in three volumes, which – translated by Jacques Lacarrière (1925-2005) – were edited by the french publishing house “Union Latine d’ Éditions”, giving Varlamos the happiest time of his artistic career.
In particular, among his literary books, which constituted the main body of his illustrations, are included significant prose and poetic texts of greek and foreign literature. Like the series of Collected Works of Nikos Kazantzakis (’50s), whose release was a great publishing challenge of the era. Varlamos cooperated occasionally with many publishers of Athens (“Astir”, “Mavrides”, Bookstore of “Hestia”, “Difros”, “Kedros”, “Synchroni Epochi”), as he also edited personal editions of various authors. His books overall were characterized by the implementation of some strict typographic rules, which promised a perfect result both on aesthetic and reading level.
Keywords:
Varlamos, illustrator, illustration, painter-engraver, printmaking
