Nikos Engonopoulos
Encyclopedia
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and poet
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. He is one of the most important members of the Greek Generation of the '30s as well as a major representative of the surrealistic
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
movement in Greece. His work as a writer also includes critique and essays.
Biography
Nikos Engonopoulos was born in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
in 1907 and was the second son of Panaghiotis and Errietti (Henrietta) Engonopoulos. During the summer of 1914 when Nikos Engonopoulos family went on a trip to Constantinople
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
his family was obliged to settle there, due to the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1923, he was enrolled in a lycée in Paris, where he studied for a period of four years. After his return to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, he served as a private in the 1st Infantry Regiment. Later on he worked as a translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
in a bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
and as a secretary at the University of Athens. In 1930 Engonopoulos was employed as a design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
er in the Urban Planning Department of the Greek Ministry of Public Works.
In 1932 he joined the Athens School of Fine Arts
Athens School of Fine Arts
The Athens School of Fine Arts , is Greece's premier art school whose main objective is to develop the artistic talents of its students.-History:Athens School of Fine Arts was established on 12 January 1837, known as the School for the Arts...
, where he studied under the supervision of Konstantinos Parthenis
Konstantinos Parthenis
Konstantinos Parthenis born in Alexandria, Egypt was a distinguished Greek painter. Parthenis broke with the Greek academic tradition of the 19th century and introduced modern elements together with traditional themes, like the figure of Christ, in his art.-External links:*...
. He also attended classes at the art studio of Photios Kontoglou
Photios Kontoglou
Photis Kontoglou was a Greek writer, painter and iconographer.-Life :He was raised by his mother, Despoina Kontoglou, and his uncle Stefanos Kontoglou, who was abbot in the nearby monastery of Aghia Paraskevi. He spent his childhood among the monastery, the sea and the fishermen. In 1913, he...
. During that time he met important artists, the poet Andreas Embirikos
Andreas Embirikos
Andreas Embirikos was a Greek surrealist poet and the first Greek psychoanalyst.-Life:...
and painters such as Yannis Tsarouchis
Yannis Tsarouchis
-Early life:Born in Piraeus, he studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts . He was also a student of Photios Kontoglou, who introduced him to Byzantine iconography, while he also studied popular architecture and dressing customs...
, Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico
Giorgio de Chirico was a pre-Surrealist and then Surrealist Italian painter born in Volos, Greece, to a Genovese mother and a Sicilian father. He founded the scuola metafisica art movement...
and Yannis Moralis.
His first paintings, mostly tempera
Tempera
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium . Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist...
s on paper depicting old houses, were presented at an Art of Modern Greek Tradition exhibition, organised in January 1938. Soon after the exhibition, he published translations of poems by Tristan Tzara
Tristan Tzara
Tristan Tzara was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, composer and film director, he was known best for being one of the founders and central figures of the anti-establishment Dada movement...
, which were published in February. A few months later, his first collection of poems (Do Not Distract the Driver) was published, followed by a second one (The Clavicembalos of Silence) the next year. Overall he is considered one of the finest surrealist poets of Greece.
His first individual exhibition was held in 1939. Three years later, he finished his most popular long poem Bolivar, a Greek Poem, inspired by the revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
and published in 1944. The poem was also released in the form of a song, in 1968, with music composed by Nikos Mamangakis.
He died of a heart attack in Athens in 1985.
External links
- Engonopoulos, official site
- Poetry International Web - Article on Engonopoulos, by Haris VlavianosHaris VlavianosHaris Vlavianos , is a contemporary Greek poet.-Biography:He studied Economics and Philosophy at the University of Bristol and Politics and History at the University of Oxford...
. Also contains link to the full text of Bolivar. - Artist's works
See also
- Art in modern GreeceArt in modern GreeceModern Greek art is the term used to describe Greek art during the period between the emergence of the new independent Greek state and the 20th century....
- National Gallery of Greece