Biography | Panos Sarafianos

"There are artists who start with the spontaneous and artists who follow the study. The way the contemporary artists work, whether they start from the spontaneous or from the study, leads to the same aesthetic effect.
Now ... the spontaneous lines, as they are in the Geometric or in the Neolithic drawings, are a start. A spontaneous line, when it is first drawn, represents sometimes the ground, sometimes the sea, sometimes a tree, sometimes a human being. In case of abstraction the opposite happens. The spontaneous lines attain, through study and inspection, the appearance of a symbol ... "

(from his recorded discussions)

PANOS SARAFIANOS

Panos Sarafianos was born in 1919 in Lamia where he lived his childhood years. He took his first steps in art in the workshop of his father, the painter Georgios Sarafianos. Alekos Kontopoulos was also apprenticed to the same workshopin earlier years.
In 1939 he entered the School of Fine Arts (ASKT). One year later, in 1940, he fought in the war and during the German occupation he took part in the National Resistance. In 1945 he graduated from the School of Fine Arts, having received many distinctions and praises.
Only two years after graduation he opened his renowned workshop which he kept until his death. A gifted visionary, a trusted confidant, inspiring and imparting, he ushered in a new ethos and dimension in the function of artist-teacher. He did'nt propose or impose his own artistic solutions, but encouraged and guided free expression by tracing, liberating and empowering the personality of young artists with whom he maintained lifelong relationships.
A painter of powerful talent and great potential, profound and direct, concerned with the substance of things, sensitive to social and aesthetic pursuits, his was a rare but not loud personality in the remit of visual arts. The stages of his personal expression in his youthful and mature years, from figurative painting and gradually into abstract gesture, are distinguished by originality, absolute character, penetration to the substance an overwhelming power. Fully conscious of the social and aesthetic questions of his time, he trusted in his own steps and found himself aligned with the international vanguard movements, having arrived there through parallel trajectories, both in his painting as well in the art movement-action, that he was preparing with an open group of young artists-students. He died at the age of 49 just as he was ready to realize his collective artistic vision.
Always devoted to the substance, he never sought public acclaim. As a result, his work and exemplary life enjoy respect among the knowing, but remain unknown to the wide public.

				ΕXHIBITIONS
EXHIBITION	TYPE	CITY	PLACE	TIME	ORGANIZER
GROUP	PANHELLENIC	ΑTHENS	ΖΑPPΕΙΟN	1952	MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
SOLO		ΑTHENS	ADEL GALLERY	1954	ADEL GALLERY
GROUP	PANITALIC	LA SPEZZIA ΙΤΑLY	PALAZZO SCOLASTICO DI PIAZZA VERDI	1957 7/7	ENTE PROVINCIALE PER IL TURISMO
GROUP	SALON D'ART	PARΙS	PALAIS DES BEAUX ARTS	1960 10/12-1/1	L'ART LIBRE ASSOCIATION
GROUP	PANHELLENIC	ΑTHENS	ΖΑPPΕΙΟN	1960 23/10-28/11	MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION AND RELIGION AFFAIRS
GROUP		HΥDRΑ	CLIO GALLERY	1960 Aug -Sept	CLIO GALLERY
GROUP		ΑTHENS	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY	1960 31/8	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY
SOLO		ΑTHENS	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY	1961 8/2-28/2	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY
GROUP	BΙΕΝΝΑLΕ	SAU PAOLO		1961
SOLO		ΑTHENS	AMERICAN COLLEGE OF GREECE	1961
GROUP	EXHIBITION OF EUBOEAN ARTISTS	ΑTHENS	HOUSE OF ARTS AND LITERATURE	1962 5/4-25/4	EUBOEAN STUDIES SOCIETY
GROUP		ΑTHENS	CATACOMBS GALLERY	1962 Μay	CATACOMBS GALLERY
GROUP		ΤΕL ΑVΙV	ISRAEL MUSEUMS	1962 26/9	ANGELOS PROKOPIOU
GROUP	CONTEMPORARY GREEK ARTISTS	JERUSALEM	BEZALEL NATIONAL MUSEUM	1962 4/7-31/7	ANGELOS PROKOPIOU
GROUP		HAIFA	ISRAEL MUSEUMS	1962 30/8-20/9	ANGELOS PROKOPIOU
GROUP		ΑTHENS	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY	1962 1/8 -10/9	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY
GROUP	PEACE AND LIFE	ΑTHENS	ZYGOS GALLERY	1962	PANHELLENIC PEACE CONVENTION COMMITTEE
GROUP		ΝΕW SΜΥRΝI	ΕSΤΙΑ ΝΕΑS SΜΥRΝIS	1962 21/1	Α ART GROUP
GROUP		ΝΙΚEΑ	NIKEA'S PHILOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION	1962 12/4	Α ART GROUP
GROUP		PΕRΑΜΑ	ST. NICHOLAS	1962 12/5	Α ART GROUP
GROUP	PANHELLENIC	ΑTHENS	ΖΑPPEION	1963	MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
GROUP		ΑTHENS	ARCHITECTURES CLUB	1963 18/1	Α ART GROUP
GROUP		HERΑKLION	ST. MARC	1963 17/4	Α ART GROUP
GROUP		VΟLΟS	VOLOS TOURIST KIOSK	1963 17/2	Α ART GROUP
GROUP		ΚΕRΑΤSΙΝΙ	ΚΕRΑΤSΙΝΙ CITY HALL	1964 10/1	Α ART GROUP
GROUP	PEINTURE GRECQUE CONTEMPORAINE	BRUSSELS	PALAIS DES BEAUX ARTS	1964 8/5-5/6	MINISTERE DE L'EDUCATION NATIONALE ET DE LA CULTURE BELGIQUE
GROUP		ΑTHENS	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY	1964 11/5-25/5	ΝΕΕS ΜΟRFΕS GALLERY
GROUP	EXHIBITION OF EUBOEAN ARTISTS	ΑTHENS	HOUSE OF ARTS AND LITERATURE	1965 2/3-20/3	EUBOEAN STUDIES SOCIETY
GROUP	PEACE AND LIFE	ΑTHENS	ΖΥGΟS GALLERY	1965 17/5	PANHELLENIC PEACE CONVENTION COMMITTEE
GROUP		ΑTHENS	ΚΟSΜΟS GALLERY	1966 19/4	PAPASAVAS SΤΑVRΟS
GROUP		ILIOUPOLI		1966 May	EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ILIOUPOLI
SOLO	RETROSPECTIVE	ΑTHENS	ORΑ GALLERY	1970 6/10	ORA GALLERY
GROUP	CONTEMPORARY GREEK PAINTERS (1909-1960)	ΑTHENS	NATIONAL GALLERY	1972 June	NATIONAL GALLERY
GROUP	PANHELLENIC- SPECIAL EXHIBITION	ΑTHENS	ΖΑPPΕΙΟN	1975 7/4-20/5	MINISTRY OF CULTURE
GROUP	5th ΚΝΕ FESTIVAL	PΕRΙSΤΕRΙ	ΑLSOS	1979 13/9-16/9	ΚΝΕ
SOLO	RETROSPECTIVE	ΑTHENS	INSTITUT FRANCAIS	1980	INSTITUT FRANCAIS
GROUP	ΜEMORIES REFORMATIONS QUESTS	ΑTHENS	NATIONAL GALLERY	1985 July	NATIONAL GALLERY
GROUP	SPECIAL EXHIBITION MINISTRY OF CULTURE'S ARTISTS - CIVIL SERVANTS	ΑTHENS		1988 Οct.	GLAUKOPIS ATHINA CULTURAL ASSOCIATION

SOLO	RETROSPECTIVE	ΑTHENS	ATHENS MUNICIPAL GALLERY	1997 26/2-24/4/	MUNICIPALITY OF ATHENS CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
SOLO	RETROSPECTIVE	LΑΜΙΑ	LAMIA MUNICIPAL GALLERY "ΑL.ΚΟΝΤΟPΟULΟS"	1997 14/5-14/6	ΜUNICIPALITY OF LAMIA LAMIA MUNICIPAL GALLERY "ΑL.ΚΟΝΤΟPΟULΟS"