Artists - Part 37

 Yannis Tsarouchis

Yannis Tsarouchis (1910-1989) was  a Greek painter and theater set designer.  Above, Tsarouchis with a model, photographed by Herbert List, 1949.

Tsarouchis was gay, and his mid-20th century paintings explored homoeroticism when gay themes were still taboo.  Above, Nude Standing, 1933, is a nude figure study in a semi-cubist style.

By 1939 his own style had emerged.  This is Youth Posing as a Statue From Olympia.

This 1944 watercolor is called "The arrest of three communists, who are reacting accordingly. The first has surrendered, the second is struggling and the third one is under the bed. First days of the 1944 uprising."

The 1944 uprising, following the withdrawal of the Nazis from Greece, was a prelude to the Greek civil war of 1946-1949 between communists and anti-communists.

There is no explanation for why the communists in the painting are naked, except that Tsarouchis liked painting naked men.

Seated Sailor and Reclining Nude, 1948.  Sailors were a favorite subject.

The Bouquet, 1955.  This is one of those taboo homoerotic depictions.  In 1955 a man did not give a bouquet to another man, let alone while both of them are naked.

The Forgotten Garrison, 1956, depicts soldiers in the barracks.  The homoerotic undercurrents are palpable.

This untitled work from 1975 literally puts a spotlight on the feature of interest.  You can't get much more blatant than that ...

Unless it's the whole focus of the painting, like Petite Etude Pour le Jeune David (Little Study for the Young David), 1976.  The title is in French because in 1967, Tsarouchis moved to Paris when Greece was taken over by a right-wing military dictatorship.

The dictatorship ended in 1974, and eventually Tsarouchis moved back to Greece.  This is Boredom Over Piraeus, 1984.  Piraeus is the seaport of Athens and the city where Tsarouchis was born and grew up.  Many of his works show men with wings, whether angel wings or butterfly wings, like here.

We end with my favorite work by Tsarouchis, Chat et Chasseurs Armés de Lance (Cat and Hunters Armed with Spears), 1968.  I love the fantasy element and the naked hunters, but I wouldn't want to be one of them!