Constantinos Volanakis

(Greek, 1837-1907)

Debarking 54 x 101 cm.

Footnotes

Exhibited
Thessaloniki, Tellogleio Art Institute, Selections of a Bold Collector. Stavros Tsigkoglou, February 2017, no. 11 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, pp. 32-33).


Highly evocative of a crisp day in the Mediterranean coastline, this wonderful picture of exceptional quality and great value, showcases Volanakis's great aptitude in capturing the transient effects of light, and lovingly delineating every detail of the sailing ships with descriptive accuracy and finesse. Here, a two-masted beauty, captured in all her intricacy and splendour, dominates the picture plane, while the low horizon gives full value to the spaciousness of the translucent sky, evoking a substantial visual depth in the vein of 17th century Dutch masters.

Human presence is no less significant. The patchwork of passengers on board the rowing boat approaching the ship,¹ highlighted with brilliant touches of vivid colour and handled with impressionistic verve, animates the entire scene, while the gentile figures on the sailing ship perfectly blend in with their surroundings and the natural environment. After all, "for Volanakis the human form is but a detail of Creation."² Ever since his studies at the Munich Academy, Volanakis perceived the seascape as a complex entity, a homogenous whole with unlimited expressive potential, allowing him to seek the ideal balance between nature's elemental forces and man's will to master.

Moreover, the red and white nautical banner and the prominent Greek flag provide additional spark to effectively convey a lively and festive atmosphere.
The diagonal movement of the rolling waves in the foreground, painted with broad brushstrokes in variegated shades of blue, creates a diagonal rhythm that draws the eye to the rocky shore on the right. Not too far away, these cliffs may be read as a metaphor for the ever-present perils an able navigator must constantly steer clear of.

¹ The foreground motif of figures in a boat occurs frequently in paintings by Willem Van De Velde the Elder (1610-1693.)
² S. Lydakis, Constantinos Volanakis [in Greek], Adam, Athens 1997, p. 64.