Δρομάκι με κάρο

000888 Nikos Yialouris, Road with a wagon, 1972, linoleum cut, 52 × 62 cm

Nikos Yialouris depicts here a view of the old town of Chios, within the walls of the medieval castle. The composition opens, bottom right, with a cart left beside the small road. Curved with rough lines and white planes, the road with the peculiar perspective moves towards the background of the composition, between the old, poor houses. Trees and paddocks complete the picture. This particular print, dated 1972, is one of the most anti-realistic, expressionist works by the artist. The Castle is a subjective depiction of the old town, a composition bold in its technical perfection and expressive simplicity. Distortion emerges as a key tool in an image that is paradoxical in its perspective, and revealing in terms of Yialouris's influences from European Modernism. And it confirms that, although self-taught, the artist was highly trained in order to absorb and assimilate his diverse influences in a personal way.

Bibliography: Manolis Vlachos, Nikos Yialouris. Drawings and Prints, Athens, 2010, p. 163 – as Chios, the Castle