(Batum, Georgia, 1922–2016 Vienna)
Torso, 1960, bronze, brown patina, signed Avramidis,
numbered 3/6, height 70 cm

A bronze illustrated in:
Joannis Avramidis, Skulpturen und Zeichnungen, Galerie Ulysses, Vienna 1975, cat. no. 7 - there dated to 1960 and 1961.

Exhibited and published:
Trigonpersonale 5, Joannis Avramidis, Plastik, Graphik, Neue Galerie Graz 1974, ill. 16,
Joannis Avramidis. A Classic of a Contemporary Sculpture, National Gallery, Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens 1997, p. 88

Provenance:
Private Collection, London

The representation of divinities in human form and, above all, of man himself constituted the central theme of ancient art. This theme was taken up by Christian works of art and has, since the Renaissance, been developed for centuries in an astonishing scope. Goethe opined, “The main aim of all sculpture... is that the dignity of man be represented within the human image.” In the art of the 20th century, however, the theme of “man” has lost much of its earlier validity. And when “man” is still depicted today, then the artistic interest is generally on his subjection and the loss his dignity has incurred. “Avramidis” almost 50-year search and struggle for a generally valid form of representation of the human figure is therefore completely unusual for our time. He himself is aware of his isolated position and once said, “Actual references for my work exist only in antiquity and Italian early Renaissance.”
Raimund Wünsche -from Grieche unter Griechen. Joannis Avramidis in der Glyptothek, Munich 1999

A bronze illustrated in:
Joannis Avramidis, Skulpturen und Zeichnungen, Galerie Ulysses, Vienna 1975, cat. no. 7 - there dated to 1960 and 1961.

Exhibited and published:
Trigonpersonale 5, Joannis Acramidis, Plastik, Graphik, Neue Galerie Graz 1974, Abb. 16,
Joannis Avramidis. A classic of a contemporary sculpture, National Gallery, Alexandros Santzos Museum, Athens 1997, p. 88

Provenance:
Private Collection, London

The representation of divinities in human form and, above all, of man himself constituted the central theme of ancient art. This theme was taken up by Christian works of art and has, since the Renaissance, been developed for centuries in an astonishing scope. Goethe opined, “The main aim of all sculpture... is that the dignity of man be represented within the human image.” In the art of the 20th century, however, the theme of “man” has lost much of its earlier validity. And when “man” is still depicted today, then the artistic interest is generally on his subjection and the loss his dignity has incurred. “Avramidis” almost 50-year search and struggle for a generally valid form of representation of the human figure is therefore completely unusual for our time. He himself is aware of his isolated position and once said, “Actual references for my work exist only in antiquity and Italian early Renaissance.”
Raimund Wünsche -from Grieche unter Griechen. Joannis Avramidis in der Glyptothek, Munich 1999