The Most Expensive 20th-Century Greek Artwork: Fetching €1.25 Million at Auction

A item of “Poetry”, the astir costly Greek coating of the 20th period by Konstantinos Parthenis. Credit: Bonhams

A coating by creator Konstantinos Parthenis became the astir costly Greek artwork of the 20th century, fetching €1.25 cardinal astatine an auction successful Paris ($1.45 million).

Art Expertise organized the 48th Greek Sale for the renowned auction location Bonhams, presenting a stunning retrospective dedicated to Greek creation from the past 2 centuries.

Featuring an exceptional postulation of 165 pieces, the Paris lawsuit built connected the momentum of recent, consecutive Greek Sale successes to go the highest-grossing auction of its benignant successful the past 15 years.

The astir costly 20th-century Greek artwork

The auction generated a full turnover of €4,400,000. The crowning jewel of the nighttime was “Poetry” by Parthenis (1878–1967), who is wide recognized arsenic the “father of modern Greek art.” He belonged to the iconic “Generation of the ’30s” and spearheaded the heroic signifier of Greek modernism by breaking distant from the rigid, 19th-century world traditions of the Munich School.

Full Moon by Moralis. Credit: Bonhams

Rounding retired the apical 5 highest-selling tons were 2 works by Yiannis Moralis: “Full Moon” and “Spring.” Both pieces much than doubled their archetypal terms estimates, hammering down astatine €508,400 and €305,200, respectively.

Additionally, Nikolaos Lytras’s “Terrace successful Tinos” reached €229,000, mounting a brand-new auction grounds for the artist, portion Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika’s “Stream II” fetched €165,500.

“The unthinkable momentum of Greek Art”

Reflecting connected the historical night, Terpsichore Angelopoulou, Director of Art Expertise, noted:

“This was a historical auction, marked by Parthenis’s large record, the exceptional prices achieved by Moralis, a caller creator grounds for Nikolaos Lytras, and a full turnover exceeding €4.4 million. This spectacular effect demonstrates the existent momentum of Greek art, a marketplace firmly backed by precocious prime and timeless value. We privation to widen our deepest gratitude to some our established and newer collectors, who continuously lend to the flourishing of the Greek creation market.”