34. NICHOLAOS GYSIS (1842-1901) Farmer from Tinos signed "N. Gysis" lower left oil on panel 41 x 31 cm (16 1/8 x 12 3/16in.) signed "N. Gysis" lower left oil on panel Provenance Sale No 237 of Neumeister, Munich, 11/12/1986. Private collection, Athens. Bonhams London Greek Sale of 13/12/2005, lot 43. Acquired from the above sale by the present owner. Exhibitions Athens, Pieridis Gallery, Greek Artists in Corporate Private Collections, April 8-19, 1987. Literature N. Misirli, Gyzis, Adam editions, Athens 1995, pp. 368, no. 20 (catalogued), p. 62 (illustrated). This work of expressive power and incisive observation is a tribute to the artist's birthplace. In N. Misirli's account of the artist's oeuvre and systematic compilation of his works, it is the only painting bearing a title associated with the island of Tinos, his place of birth.¹ Following a life-changing trip to Greece in 1872, his first after seven years in Germany, Gyzis returned to Munich in 1874 full of vibrant images and vivid impressions of his homeland. In Marcel Montandon's classic monograph on Gyzis, we read: "Now starts the most fruitful period of the artist's genre painting; Gysis is in Munich only in body; his thoughts constantly return to the beauty of the Aegean Sea. His brush conveys powerful images of daily life in Athens, Smyrna and Tinos."² Magnificent and psychologically acute, the portrait of the young islander shows no signs of idealisation, its unadorned beauty emanating from within, depending on the honesty of representation, genuineness of character and purity of form. Impeccably painted in warm, earthy colours highlighted by solid outlines and bold brushwork, the work captures the limpid, piercing gaze of the subject, impelling the viewer to delve beyond the surface and seek the inner world of the young Greek. The portrait's captivating immediacy and resilient allure is a testament to Gyzis' power of an imaginative transaction between the subject, the artist and the beholder. ¹. N. Misirli, Gyzis [in Greek], Adam, Athens 1995. ². M. Montandon, Gysis, Derlag von Delhagen & Klafing editions, Bielefeld und Leipzig, 1902, pp. 56-57.