Τοπίο Δυτικής Χίου με βίγλα

005857 Nikos Yialouris, Landscape from Chios with “vigla” (i.e., Watch Tower), n.d., oil on canvas, 32 × 42 cm

Closely resembling Landscape (no. 001762), this painting belongs to the artist’s early production. It depicts a view of the coastal landscape of Chios: a small bay to the right, with rocks and pines reaching down to the waves. In the background, a cylindrical tower can also be seen—perhaps a windmill or a watchtower (i.e., vigla). The middle zone of the image is occupied by the deep blue of the sea, and farther back by the bluish mountain masses of the Asia Minor coast. The sky is rendered in blue, its surface broken by white and pink clouds. The young Yialouris works with a clear grasp of complex concepts such as perspective—i.e., the recession of planes from foreground to background—and atmospheric perspective, evident in the blue of the sea and the pale blue of the Asia Minor mountains. He has chosen his vantage point with mastery and handles line, plane, and colour in a manner that reveals both his artistic knowledge and his influences. Simply put, the fledgling painter appears to be familiar with movements such as Impressionism and especially the post-Impressionist movements; he knows the work of Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Greek painters such as Konstantinos Maleas. But of course, he is still far from the personal style he would develop in the years to follow.