Athens 1954

Alekos Kontopoulos made this painting, ‘Athens’, with oils on canvas. Looking at this painting, I can imagine Kontopoulos squinting into the sun, trying to capture the city’s jumbled geometry. See how the buildings tilt and overlap? He’s not just painting what he sees, but also how he feels – a bit overwhelmed, maybe, but also excited by the chaos of urban life. The palette is warm, earthy browns and reds, punctuated by flashes of white and blue, like glimpses of sky between buildings. There’s a real push and pull between abstraction and representation here. I love how he’s simplified the forms, reducing them to basic shapes. This gives the painting a dynamic energy, as if the city is constantly shifting and reforming itself before our eyes. Painters are always in conversation, aren’t they? Picking up where others left off, pushing the boundaries of what painting can do. And in this painting, Kontopoulos invites us to join the conversation, to experience Athens through his eyes, his brushstrokes, his unique vision.