Κατεύθυνση Ιστορία της Νεότερης Τέχνης
Library of the School of Philosophy

2019-03-13

2019

Paraskeva Despoina

Ευθυμία Μαυρομιχάλη, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Δημήτρης Παυλόπουλος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Σπυρίδων Πλουμίδης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ

"Άνθη της πέτρας, φυσιογνωμίες που ήρθαν και μου μίλησαν". Όψεις του γλυπτικού έργου της Μπέλλας Ραφτοπούλου (1902-1992)

Greek

"Flowers of the rock, physiognomies that came and spoke to me". Aspects of the sculptural work of Bella Raftopoulou (1902-1992)

With her life and her work she covered the 20th century and reflected her time. Bella Raftopoulou is a noticeable case in the history of modern greek art. For her unique personality she was loved and admired. For the quality of her work she was estimated and honored. Her work consists of sculptures, drawings, engravings and medals, something that shows the multitude of her interests and the variety of her talents.
Her sculptural job runs clearly through three stages. Her work from 1930 until 1950 includes busts and nudes in bronze and marble, that could be characterized as studies. This job is influenced by Raftopoulou’s teacher Thomas Thomopoulos and her contact with Ecole de Paris and the work of Aristide Maillol and Charles Despiau in particular. From 1930 onwards Raftopoulou shifts to taille direct. Her first attempts in stone, whose main theme is the female figure, are characterized by frontality, curved lines, elegance and sensuality. With influences from ancient sculpture and Rodin, Botticelli and Bourdelle, Raftopoulou’s other teacher, they don’t differentiate themselves from academic sculpture.
After 1950 Raftopoulou moves permanently to Paris. She is ready to surpass her teachers and to form her own sculptural genre. Through simple means she seeks pure form, she opts for schematized, geometrical forms. Her works show monumentality, sensuality or a symbolic character. They express in a direct way strong feelings. Their topics include apart from the female figure animal figures. Influences from the Cycladic art and Bourdelle, Brancusi and Moore show the artists’ creativity and her capacity of keeping up with artistic evolution. Her eclecticism though harms the cohesion of her job.
After 1965 Raftopoulou’s work becomes even more abstract. Linearity, flatness and constructivism are now more prominent and the sculptures show influences from primitive and archaic art, from Brancusi, Giacometti and Wotruba.
From 1950 Raftopoulou shifts to two- dimensional micro sculpture and to relief in bronze, shale and Plexiglas. Inspired from mythology, these works show similarities with prehistoric statuettes and the work of Giacometti and Moore. They make use of randomness and the means of surrealism and expressionism and don’t allow easy interpretations.

Fine arts - Entertainment

Bella Raftopoulou, modern greek sculpture, engraving, Delphic Festivals, Bourdelle

No

0

Yes

358

151

File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.

https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/2866068