Theokriteio romance 1951

Alekos Kontopoulos made "Theokriteio romance" sometime between 1904 and 1975 with oil on an unknown surface. The way he’s layering the paint, it's like he's building up this hazy, romantic atmosphere. Look at how he renders the woman's dress with these soft, almost watercolour-like washes of blue. Then, next to it, you get these sharper, more defined strokes in the musician’s costume. It’s as if the painting itself is playing with different moods and tempos. I love how he uses texture to create a sense of depth. There's a real tactile quality to the piece, especially in the way he builds up the dark areas around the musician's head. It reminds me a little of some of Corot’s figure paintings; there’s a similar kind of dreamy idealism at play. But Kontopoulos brings his own sensibility to it. Art is always a conversation, right?