29. 29AR Alecos Fassianos (Greek, 1935-2022) La petite terasse, 1978 signé 'A. Fassianos' (en haut à gauche) et daté '1978' (en haut à droite); signé, titré et daté 'FASSIANOS LA PETITE TERASSE 1978' (sur le châssis) huile sur toile 96.5 x 146cm (38 x 57 1/2in). signed (upper left) and dated (upper right); signed, titled and dated ' (on the stretcher) Provenance Galerie Beaubourg, Paris. Private collection, Athens. Littérature J.M. Drot, La Volupté Mythologique, Galerie Beaubourg, Paris / Marval, Paris / Ileana Tounta, Athens / Bernard Voisin, Chenonceau, 1985, p. L under the title La gare d'Olympia avec poisons (illustrated). Captured in Fassianos's extraordinary signature blues, this striking canvas seizes the moment through timeless forms, integrating many of the defining elements of the artist's universe: the graceful corporeal figures, the small fish of the Aegean, the simple scarf, the straw chair, the humble flowers in a vase, the ubiquitous bicycle on the extreme right. "Blue is the colour in which Fassianos discovered himself" notes Nobel laureate O. Elytis. "A colour which he voiced in every scale, distilling one tone into another, yet ensuring that they retain their limpidity, never losing a fraction of their profound, deep-sea magic."1 Drawn in sharp profile and set against a solid background that accentuates their monumental scale, two ordinary friends are remoulded into archetypal figures echoing the timeless symbolism of ancient Greek vase iconography. "The wind which tosses the hair of Fassianos's figures is the same wind which pervades Homer's epics and fills Odysseus's sails on his way to meet the Sirens."2 1 O. Elytis, "The Fassianos we Love", preface to A. Fassianos, exhibition catalogue, Zoumboulakis Galleries, Athens 1977. 2 J. Lacarriere, "A Shadow Play" in Fassianos - Mythologies of Everyday Life, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery - Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Athens 2004, p. 24.