11. Constantinos Volanakis (Greek, 1837-1907) Vue de Lavrio, une paire a) signé en grec (en bas à gauche) huile sur panneau 46 x 63.5cm (18 1/8 x 25in). signed in Greek (lower left) oil on panel b) signé en grec (en bas à gauche) huile sur panneau 45.5 x 63.5cm (17 15/16 x 25in). signed in Greek (lower left) oil on panel -2 Provenance Stavros Mihalarias Art, Greek and Foreign Painters and Marine Subjects, Athens, June 6, 1988, lot 69. Private collection, Athens. Littérature S. Lydakis, Volanakis, Adam editions, Athens 1997, pp. 36, 37 (illustrated). This luminous open panorama of Lavrio—a rugged area in eastern Attica, near Athens, where the ancient silver mines1 were located—evokes the vast scale of land, sea, and sky, bearing witness to the skills which established Volanakis as a master landscapist. The loving delicacy with which the artist observed nature extends to the scene as a whole, capturing the stillness of the hour. His depiction of the calm surface of the sea intersected by tree trunks is a combination of realistic and romantic elements in a harmonious composition and a lyrical interpretation of the landscape. Using his favourite sickle-like curve at the centre of the composition to draw a bay that cuts deep into the land, the artist generates a powerful movement that directs the eye to the group of buildings on the right. This dynamic thrust is counterbalanced by the dramatic sweep of the weather beaten trees on the left, used here as organizing motifs to form a vertical link between land, sea, and sky and lend the picture its coherence and harmony. The highly expressive forms of the tree branches further enliven the scene, charging the entire composition with a poetic charm and imbuing it with an air of spontaneity and freshness. (Compare a similar view of Lavrio by Nikiforos Lytras, c. 1871). 1 During the Classical period, much of the wealth from the mines financed the construction of the Athenian fleet as well as many of the city's major building projects. Abandoned in the 6th c. AD, the mines reopened in 1859, headed by Giovanni Battista Serpieri, who owned a fine collection of 19th c. Greek Art.