Βρύσις Καλαμωτής

004629 Frixos Aristefs, The Fountain of Kalamoti, 1936, oil on canvas, 71.5 × 51.5 cm

One of the most captivating paintings by Aristefs in the collection of the Chios Municipal Gallery is The Fountain of Kalamoti. It depicts two young women in traditional dress collecting water from the fountain in the village square. In the Mastichochoria (mastic-producing villages) of southern Chios, the painter was particularly drawn to the local costumes of Kalamoti and Pyrgi. He wrote in his Autobiography: “How curious indeed are the enormous white headscarves worn by the women of Kalamoti, which—with their strange folds—resemble a turban and make the head appear disproportionately large compared to the body, as do their white or dark blue dresses with red trimmings.” In the painting, the artist is equally enchanted by the interplay of light and shadow and by the charm of the genre scene. With quick yet confident strokes, he seeks to capture both the architectural setting and the human presence: the rural women in their everyday attire.