Theophilos Hatzimihail

Theophilos Hatzimihail (born ca. 1870, Vareia, near Mytilene, island of Lesbos, Greece; – died, Vareia, 22 March; 1934), known simply as Theophilos, was a major folk painter of Neo-Hellenic art. The main subject of his works are Greek characters and the illustration of Greek traditional folklife and history.

Biography

The exact birthdate of Theophilos is unknown. However, it is believed that he was born between 1867–1870 in Vareia, a village outside of Mytilene. His father, Gabriil Kefalas, was a shoemaker, while his mother Pinelopi Hatzimihail was a daughter of a hagiographer. When he was very young he was mediocre at school, but he had a special interest in painting, having learned the basics from his grandfather.

His life was very hard in part because people laughed at him, since he went around with the traditional Greek dress fustanella. At the age of 18 he abandoned his home and family and worked as a gate-keeper ("kavasis") in the Greek consulate of Smyrni.There he stayed a few years, before he settled in the city of Volos about 1897, searching for occasional work and drawing in houses and shops of the area. Many paintings of his wall-drawings exist today. Most of his years he spent in Pilio. His protector at that period was the landholder Giannis Kontos, for whom he did many works. Today the house of Kontos is the Theophilos Museum. As well as painting he was also involved in organizing popular theatrical acts for national ceremonies, and in the carnival period he had a major role, sometimes dressing as Alexander the Great, with pupils in an array macedonian phalanx, and sometimes as a hero of the Greek Revolution, with gear and costumes made by himself.

In 1927 he returned to Mytilene. Legend states that he left from Volos because of an event in a "kafeneio" (coffee shop), when someone played a joke on him in front of others and threw down Theophilos from a ladder where he was drawing.

In Mytilene, despite the mockery of the people, he continued to draw, painting many wall-drawings in villages, for little payment, usually for a plate of food and a cup of wine. Many of his works of this period have been lost, either due to natural aging or from damage by the owners. In Mytilene, the renowned art critic and publisher Stratis Eletheriadis (Tériade), who lived in Paris, brought Thephilos a great deal of recognition and also international publicity, though posthumous. With Tériade's funding in 1964 the Museum of Theophilos was constructed in Vareia, Lesbos.

Theophilos died in March 1934, the eve of Annunciation, perhaps from food poisoning. One year later, his works were exhibited in the Museum of Louvre as a sample of a genuine folk painter of Greece.

Bibliography

#Odysseas Elytis, "The Painter Theophilos", pub. Ypsilon, Athens 1996. ISBN 960-17-0011-0.
#Kitsos Makris, "The Painter Theophilos at Pilios", 3rd Edition, εκδ. Δημοτικού Κέντρου Ιστορικών Ερευνών, Αρχείων και Εκθεμάτων Βόλου, Volos 1998. ISBN 960-85703-1-X.
#Ε. Παπαζαχαρίου, "Ο άλλος Θεόφιλος", εκδ. Κάκτος, Αθήνα 1997.
#Ντ. Παπασπύρου, "Θεόφιλος Γ.Χ. Μιχαήλ", εκδ. Ιανός, Θεσσαλονίκη 1998. ISBN 960-7771-16-8.

Movies

*cine gr|τίτλος=Θεόφιλος|id=650979

External links

* [http://theofilos.iolkos.gr/index.html Theophilos Museum - House of Giannis Kontos (Volos)]
* [http://www.culture.gr/4/42/421/42107/42107g/e42107g1.html Museum of Works by Theophilos(Mytilene Lesbos Island Greece)]
* [http://www.peri-grafis.com/ergo.php?id=669 Biograph & works]
* [http://istoria.gr/aug02/3.htm The death of Theophilos ("Ιστορία Εικονογραφημένη", August 2002)]
* [http://ta-nea.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?entypo=A&f=16632&m=N38&aa=1 Artical in news paper "Ta Nea", 3 January 2000]
* [http://culture.ana.gr/refer.php?id=1149&pid=375 Odysseas Elytis on Theophilos]