Costas Valsamis Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1908 - d. 2003

Costas Valsamis was born in 1908 on the island of Symi.

From 1932 to 1937 he studied sculpture at The School of Fine Arts, Athens, under Costas Dimitriades. Later, on a scholarship from the French Government, he continued his studies in the French capital firstly at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the workshop of M. Gimond and later at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere with O. Zadkine. Upon completion of his studies Valsamis settled permanently in Paris.

His main subject matter is the human figure. Influenced from the trends of the period he arrived at a personal style characterized by simplified forms of expressionistic thrust, sculpting works in gypsum, stone and bronze.

Valsamis exhibited his work internationally in numerous group and solo exhibitions, notably: the 1948 International Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962 Salon de la Jeune Sculpture, Musee Rodin, Paris, the 1953 ‘Sept Sculpteurs Grecs’ Petit Palais, Paris, the 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1973 Antwerp Biennale, the 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963 and 1965 Biennale du Petit Bronze, Padua, the 1962 Exposition Internationale du Petite Bronze, Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris and the 1972 and 1974 Exposition Internationale de la ‘Forme Humaine’ Musee Rodin, Paris.

In 1977, the National Gallery in Athens organized a major retrospective of his work, while in 1980 the French Ministry of Culture honored him with the order of ‘Knight of Fine Arts’

His work can be found in The National Gallery of Greece, The Municipal Gallery of Athens, The Municipal Art Gallery of Rhodes, the Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris, the Cite Universitaire, Paris, the Casa del Greco, Toledo, the Galeria d’Arte Moderna, Rome, the Museum of Modern Art, Israel and many other public and private collections.