This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Vassilios Hatzis(Greek, 1870-1915)Le navire de guerre Georges Averof
€12,000 - €18,000
Vassilios Hatzis (Greek, 1870-1915)
signé en grec (en bas à gauche)
huile sur toile
40 x 70cm (15 3/4 x 27 9/16in).
signed in Greek (lower left)
oil on canvas
Footnotes
Provenance
N. Vernikou collection, Athens.
Private collection, Athens.
Exposé
Piraeus, Hellenic Maritime Museum, The Battleship "Georgios Averof", 1911-2011, History and Art, October 5, 2011 - January 7, 2012 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, pp. 132-133).
Littérature
D. Yakoumakis, ed., The Hellenic Navy in Greek Art, Hellenic Navy General Staff edition, Athens 1996, no. 96, p. 151 (discussed), p. 74 (illustrated).
Nous remercions professeur M. Vlachos pour avoir confirmé l'authenticité de cette œuvre. (We are grateful to professor M. Vlachos for confirming the authenticity of this lot.)
The flagship of the Greek fleet and the most important and impressive vessel in the history of the Hellenic Navy, the battleship Averof surges through the choppy seas of the Aegean, engaged in open warfare with the Turkish fleet.
Purchased in 1910, Averof was named after the great national benefactor, whose bequest covered most of the cost. At the outbreak of the First Balkan War, under the command of Rear Admiral Pavlos Kontouriotis, the legendary ship set sail for the Dardanelles Straits, liberating along the way most of the Aegean islands. The inevitable engagement with the Turkish fleet led to major victories in the battle of Elli (December 1912) and the Battle of Limnos (January 1913), whittling away at the Sultan's hopes to control the Aegean.
On government orders, Hadjis observed operations aboard the warships Averoff and Miaoulis or from the Moudros naval base on the island of Limnos, recording the glorious historical events with spontaneity, directness and evocative realism. According to Professor M. Vlachos, an expert on Greek seascape and marine painting, "Handjis's renditions of the battleship Averof are the most successful ship portraits he ever painted."1
1 M. V(lachos) in Dictionary of Greek Artists [in Greek], vol. IV, Melissa editions, Athens 1999, p. 444.
Saleroom notices
This artwork is no longer available for auction.