Description Yannis Gaitis (1923-1984) Wooden construction “People”. Wood construction (Mixed technique with oil). Artist’s signature lower right side. Dimensions: 82.0 X 62.0 X 7.5 cm. Biography: Yannis Gaitis (1923-1984) was a Greek painter, engraver and sculptor. He is known for his “Little People”, figures who have no individual characteristics and have identical clothing with a striped suit and hat, in protest of the massification of modern man. His father was from Tinos and his mother from Doliana, Arcadia. He first studied at the School of Fine Arts and then in Paris. Among his teachers was Konstantinos Parthenis. In 1949 he participated together with other artists such as Alekos Kontopoulos in the founding of the artistic group of the so-called “Extremes”, whose members stood out for their involvement with abstract art forms. In 1954 he went to Paris to complete his studies at the School of Fine Arts and the Grande Chaumiere Academy. At the same time he organized exhibitions in Athens and the French capital, where he settled with his wife, Gabriela Simosi, and took part in several solo and group exhibitions, both in Greece and abroad. In 1967 he presented for the first time “Little People”, the feature of his work, with which he worked in the following decades, making it a kind and means of irony and social criticism. Gradually, from 1975 the stylized forms multiplied and consolidated resulting in the creation of human landscapes. He passed away in July 1984, a few days after the opening of the retrospective exhibition of his work at the National Gallery of Athens. Yannis Gaitis (1923-1984) – Wooden construction “People” – A very beautiful and collectible work of art. Code: C483
