39. Panayiotis Tetsis (Greek, 1925-2016) Nature morte avec orchidées signé en grec (en bas à droite) huile sur toile 150 x 155cm (59 1/16 x 61in). signed in Greek (lower right) oil on canvas Provenance Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Nourished by the Greek light, Tetsis's famed tables captivate the viewer with a festive ritual of blazing colour and, at the same time, a deep feeling of calm and reverie. Without sacrificing visual reality, the artist boldly treats colour as a structural element in building up form and deals with light as being assimilated into his painted surfaces. "Tetsis muses over colour, loses himself in its depths, and seeks to reach beneath the skin of the world of appearances, beyond colour, chroma, a word which derives from the ancient Greek chros meaning skin. A sense of unity and balance, a discreet, subtle classicism lies beneath the romanticism of colour. His eye, well-trained and scholarly, yet innocent and lyrical, contemplates the world through a strong and resolute will for life."1 1 H. Kambouridis, "A Gymnasium for the Gaze" in P. Tetsis, Thalassa, exhibition catalogue, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation Museum of Contemporary Art, Andros, 2006, p. 66.