Μύκονος

000016 Yannis Mitarakis, An Alley in Mykonos, 1933, oil on canvas, 62.5 × 75.5 cm

In contrast to the stricter, more geometric character of Mykonos (00015), Alley in Mykonos is distinguished by its picturesque nature. The composition opens in the foreground with a brown-gray cobblestone path flanked by small Cycladic houses. The narrow alley disappears into the depth of the scene, between the buildings, but at its implied endpoint rises the red dome of a church. The warm colour of the roof, contrasted with the blue tones of the sky, serves as the chromatic and compositional center of the painting, effectively crowning the building complex. The Cycladic landscape fascinated Greek artists, particularly during the interwar years. Many identified in the simplicity of Cycladic vernacular architecture elements reminiscent of Cubism. But above all, they perceived in the Cyclades a long-standing civilization that supported the national ideology of cultural continuity—of tradition and, ultimately, of a “Greekness” not limited to Classical Antiquity (as the 19th century had emphasized), but one that embraced the Byzantine period and the era of Ottoman rule. It is within this ideological framework that the strong interest in the Cyclades can be understood—an interest that, in this case, also nourished the art of Mitarakis.