103. ELENI PITARI PANGALOU (1905-1995) Sans titre encre et gouache sur papier 69 x 99 cm. (27.17 x 38.98 in.) Peint c. 1970s Ink and gouache on paper Provenance Estate of the artist Exhibitions Athens, National Museum of Contemporary Art, 13 June 2024 – 12 January 2025. In the 1960s and 1970s, Pitari-Pangalou created a body of uniquely original black-and-white drawings that navigate the realms of fantasy, clairvoyance and metaphysical concerns, linking the fundamental premises of symbolism with the spirit of abstraction. Echoing the ethereal 19th c. visions of William Blake, the artist meticulously covers every inch of the pictorial surface almost to the point of horror vacui, creating a central theme and then enclosing it in a cluster of forms that seem to multiply ad infinitum. These intuitive, enigmatic, highly insightful drawings, which recall Leonora Carrington's dream-like autobiographical work, underscore the often overlooked yet crucial contribution of women artists to the surrealist movement.1 A student of Parthenis at the Athens School of Fine Arts, Pitari-Pangalou showed her work in Athens and Rome, and in 1963 she co-represented Greece at the 7th Sao Paolo Art Biennial and the 5th Alexandria Biennale for Mediterranean Countries. 1 : See https://www.pitari-pangalou-art.com/