A photo album of Nikos Engonopoulos
The Photo Album of Nikos Engonopoulos: A personal selection from the photographic archive of Nikos Engonopoulos.
A text, with the whole process of preparation for the presentation and a semiotic analysis of some photographs.
Stavros Domnidis
Athens, 2025
A brief introduction about the life and work of Nikos Engonopoulos
Nikos Engonopoulos (1907-1985) is one of the most emblematic figures of Greek art and literature of the 20th century. Poet, painter and main representative of the surrealist movement in Greece, he managed with his multifaceted work to marry the Greek cultural past with the modern aesthetic perceptions of his time.
He was born in Athens in 1907. The first years of his life were marked by travel, as due to his family's financial difficulties, he spent a large part of his childhood in Paris. There he came into contact with the new artistic and philosophical trends of the West, a fact that would later decisively influence his creative course. Returning to Greece in 1927, he served his military service and then studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he studied alongside great artists such as Konstantinos Parthenis.
His artistic development was inextricably linked to the atmosphere of interwar Greece, which tried to combine the old with the new. The influence of the surrealist movement, which had already appeared in Europe with pioneers such as André Breton, was also significant. Engonopoulos became acquainted with surrealism mainly through the study of French literature and through his personal quests for the liberation of the imagination and the subconscious.
In 1938 he published his first collection of poetry entitled Don't Talk to the Driver, which surprised the audience of the time with its bold character and groundbreaking language. Through disconnected images, unusual associations and a subversion of logic, his work highlights a deep sense of freedom and existential anguish. This collection marked the entry of Greek surrealism into literature.
Along with poetry, Engonopoulos was also intensively involved in painting. His painting is characterized by the use of bright colors, the static of the figures and the visual representation of archetypal figures of Greek myth and history. In many of his paintings, heroes of Greek mythology, the Byzantine tradition and modern Greek history are the protagonists, presented with a transcendent, almost dreamlike dimension.
An important moment in his career was the publication of the epic Bolívar, a Greek hero, in 1944, in the midst of the Occupation. This poem, inspired by the Latin American liberator Simon Bolívar, was a hymn to freedom and the struggle against oppression. Engonopoulos, through Bolívar, expressed the hope for a better future and the need for revolution, both social and spiritual. This work is considered one of the most important of Greek surrealist poetry.
During his life, Engonopoulos had a consistent course in the field of art, away from fashions and ephemeral trends. Although the originality of his work often caused embarrassment or even negative criticism, over time he established himself as an authentic voice of Greek modern art. He sought an art that focused on the inner freedom of the creator and drew inspiration from the inexhaustible depths of the Greek tradition.
In his works, whether painted or poetic, Engonopoulos combines references to ancient Greece, Byzantium and folk art with the Western avant-garde. He uses timeless symbols, such as the hero, the myth, the saint, and places them in spaces that are indefinable, dreamlike, full of contrasts. This coupling of past and present creates a unique sense of timelessness in his work.
It is worth noting that Engonopoulos was not limited to the narrow borders of Greece. He was influenced by global artistic trends and at the same time tried to integrate Greekness into a broader, international context. Through surrealism, he sought new forms of expression that would meet the needs of modern man, but without betraying his roots.
Apart from his artistic activity, he was a professor at the School of Architecture of the National Technical University of Athens. His educational contribution was important, as he instilled in his students the love for art and respect for freedom of expression.
Nikos Engonopoulos died in 1985, leaving behind a rich and multidimensional work. After his death, interest in his work increased significantly, with numerous publications, exhibitions and studies highlighting his contribution to Greek and European art.
Today, he is considered one of the most important representatives of Greek surrealism, but also an artist who managed to create a deeply personal and time-resistant work. The power of his imagination, his sense of humor, his poetic sensitivity and his deep faith in the importance of Greek tradition compose a portrait of rare authenticity.
Engonopoulos reminds us that true art is not limited to time periods or geographical borders. Instead, it seeks the universal through the local, the eternal through the ephemeral, and invites the viewer or reader to see the world through other eyes: those of imagination, dream, and freedom.
My point of involvement in the workshop is listed below.
Presentation
I decided to focus on the images-photographs, from the personal collection of Nikos Engonopoulos. I didn't have any difficulty in implementing my idea. It emerged almost from a source.
1st visit: I came into contact with most of the archive. Almost from the first moment I found what I was going to do.
2nd visit: I made a first selection with the most important, in my opinion, photos. The criteria by which I chose the images I will present were:
• Some should be published and some unpublished
• There should be both colored and monochromatic black and white
• Have footnotes on the back or front. It helped me to get information about the content.
• There must be variety in categories but also 'representativeness'
3rd visit: I dedicated my last visit to the Athens School of Fine Arts to scanning. It took me a total of 2.5 hours
The presentation took a total of 15 hours to complete.
To sum it up briefly, I had a very beautiful experience. I enjoyed the visits to the Athens School of Fine Arts and I was given the opportunity to deal with an object and an artist that I had not had the opportunity to do before.
• Semiotic analysis of selected images
Drawing Lesson: In this particular photograph we observe many people with canvases. A model is in the center of the room. At the edge there is a male figure. This is Nikos Engonopoulos. The image indicatively refers us to a lesson tradition. This is of course true as we are talking about Nikos Engonopoulos, who gives a lecture to students and in particular, to drawing. The image is completed by the nude model. This shows us the coincidence that the drawing workshop, in this session, will paint the naked body. The punctum of the image is the naked body but also the dedication with which the students paint it and are artistically inspired by it. Finally, the warm colors not only show us the medium (i.e. a camera with color film) but also take us on a journey to a carefree and old era.
With the Queen: Manifestation - Literal
• In this picture the composition is simple. There are three men and a woman. All are well dressed but the woman wears aristocratic clothes. On the walls there are paintings.
• Co-declaration - Co-declaration
• We are talking about Nikos Engonopoulos and Queen Frederica, of course. We assume that they are in an exhibition (social event), of clothes and landscape (paintings). The hypothesis is also confirmed by the handwritten caption on the back of the photograph: "At Zappeion in a group exhibition, visit of Frederica then Queen, 2nd exhibition of the World Institute of Architecture 1854". Their bodies are in a defensive posture, which causes us an uncomfortable feeling (This may also be due to the fact that they do not know each other well).
• Punctum
• The point that pierces the viewer's eye is the interaction of Nikos Engonopoulos and Queen Friederika. It shows us the interaction of two completely different worlds.
Atelier: In this image we see an office space. There are tools, pencil cases, paintings and canvases. This reminds us of the fact that the office belongs to an artist. If we observe the works better, we understand very quickly that this artist is Nikos Engonopoulos. This particular photograph has great dynamics as it introduces us to the personal "workplace" of our great surrealist. Thus, the works have the role of punctum as they keep us trapped in the photo in question.
• Bibliography - Sources
• Engonopoulos, N. (2007). Nikos Engonopoulos Poems. Athens: IKAROS.
• Collective. (2008). Introduction to the poetry of Engonopoulos: Selection of Critical Texts (F. Abatzopoulou, Ed.). UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF CRETE.
• Collective. (2010). Nikos Engonopoulos, the Painter and the Poet: Conference Proceedings Friday 23 & Saturday 24 November 2007 (A. Hachla, Ed.). Athens: BENAKI MUSEUM.
• Chalevelaki, M. (2010). An Introduction to Semantics: Theory and Applications. Athens: KASTANIOTIS.
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