Lot 17: AR POLYKLEITOS RENGOS (1903-1984) Evangelistria, Tinos

AR POLYKLEITOS RENGOS (1903-1984)
Evangelistria, Tinos
signed and dated ‘POL.REGOS/1957’ (lower right)
egg tempera on panel
70 x 71.5 cm.

Provenance
Bonhams Greek Sale of 13/12/2005, Lot 128,
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner.
Exhibited
Athens, Zygos Gallery, 1958, no. 21.
Athens, National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Retrospective exhibition, 1980, no. 83
Thessaloniki, Vafopoulio, 1983, no 47.
This charming work is more than an architectural portrait of the impressive Evangelistria Monastery on the island of Tinos. The chapel of the wonder-working Panaghia (the Virgin of Tinos) stirs the artist’s imagination, leading him not only to record the natural and man-made environment but also to convey his spiritual experience. Set against the island’s rugged landscape, cloudy blue skies and the distant ridges of Mykonos, the church tower, which dominates the centre of the picture (reminiscent of the compositional structure of many works by Spyros Papaloukas), leads the eye upwards, towards the heavenly sphere. This elegant, tapering vertical structure engages in a dialogue with the horizontal form of the ship entering the harbour, accentuating the spiritual atmosphere. According to anecdotal information provided by the artist’s son, Constantinos Regos, the ship transporting the faithful is the “Costakis Toyias”, well known in its time for plying the Aegean routes along with its sister ship the “Moschanthi”, which was slightly smaller.
“On August 14, 1956, the eve of the annual celebration dedicated to the Virgin, we travelled steerage on this ship from Piraeus to Tinos (birthplace of my grandfather Nicholas Regos). In the lower left corner my father included three figures representing himself and his family with the exception of my elder brother, Nikos, either because he was absent when we visited the church or because when my father painted this picture a year later he had already been married and had a family of his own.” Lovingly portrayed in the midst of an olive grove, the artist’s family seems both in harmony with nature and in communion with the divine, underlining the solemnity and spiritual experience of this place of worship.
Among the first class of students to graduate from the legendary Nikos Lytras studio in 1926 and a founding member of the revived “Art Group” (Omas Technis) in the early 1930s, Polykleitos Regos evolved into a prominent figure of Greek landscape painting. Effectively combining the meticulous technique of Byzantine art with a yearning for new forms of expression, he developed a highly personal style which does not negate tradition but enriches it with the element of exploration. As a result, his enchanting works manage to alleviate realist directness with a strong lyrical element.