Δρομάκι στη Μύκονο

000015 Yannis Mitarakis, Mykonos, 1933, oil on canvas, 57 × 68 cm

Mitarakis likely visited Mykonos for the first time during the summer of 1933, since no work depicting this Cycladic island was included among the 32 paintings exhibited at his solo exhibition at the Galerie “Paul” Décorateur in Alexandria in February of the same year. The Cycladic landscape gained particular significance for Greek art and architecture during the interwar period; especially after the organization of the Fourth International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM IV) in Athens in 1933, when the participants visited the Cyclades and were captivated by the simplicity of the whitewashed houses. It is quite possible that Mitarakis, a keen observer of French culture, followed a similar path influenced by CIAM.

What is certain is that his views of Mykonos, alongside those of Santorini and Skyros—created during the same period—reveal the painter’s interest in the geometric simplicity of island architecture. In the painting, a panoramic view of the Cycladic settlement is depicted, featuring the characteristic white houses. Mitarakis positions himself at a distance, giving the composition a pyramidal layout. The buildings occupy most of the image, painted with simple lines and flat, clear colour planes; thus, the tectonic quality of the composition emerges.