Αμυγδαλιά

000179 Yannis Mitarakis, Almond tree, 1938, oil on canvas, 99.5 × 132 cm

In the late 1930s, the artist painted several landscapes—as landscape painting gradually became his primary field of experimentation. In the Gallery’s work titled The Almond Tree, his attention is captivated by the blossoming tree, whose flowering marks the arrival of spring. The scene itself is rather unremarkable: a small plain, with a bare fig tree in the lower left, two pines to the right, and the soft contours of distant hills in the background. The drawing is rough, simple, and the colour palette is dominated by the contrast between green tones (in the ground and trees) and a few earthy browns. Everything seems conventional, even dull. Yet a single element is enough to transform the scene into a poetic image: the almond tree in bloom, painted in soft whites and pinks. The work belongs stylistically to Mitarakis’ familiar 1930s period, combining expressionist references with the influence of French art—particularly the painting of Demetrios Galanis and André Derain, artists who had a significant impact on him during this time.