Details

Provenance

Private Collection, France Sale: Artcurial, Paris, 29 June 2009, lot 286 Catalogue Note 'The human being has always been present in my painting, and it is through the disfigurement of its presence that I attempt to provide a plastic counterpart to our inner anguish; to psychological states that remain hidden inside, invisible to us. I am passionate about the human being: its acts, its dark motives, its psychological impulses, its frenzied endeavours to make dreams come true, its desires and passions. This is our fate. This psychological activity that consumes us is what art strives to discover' (John Christoforou, Paris, November 1978, quoted in the exhibition catalogue John Christoforou – Man: The Fallen Angel , Athens, 2002). Born in London of Greek parents, Cristoforou spent his childhood in Greece but returned to London in 1938. Cristoforou enlisted in the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II, and undertook missions by air in the Far East. He began to paint upon his return to London, and

Exhibited

for the first time in 1949. The work of Christoforou is an uninhibited expression of fallen man's need for moral expiation; vivid colours and violent gestures create powerful illustrations of the human experience.

Catalog summary

John Christoforou Panic signed and dated 1973 lower right acrylic on canvas 300 by 260cm., 118 by 102¼in. Provenance Private Collection, France Sale: Artcurial, Paris, 29 June 2009, lot 286 Catalogue Note 'The human being has always been present in my painting, and it is through the disfigurement of its presence that I attempt to provide a plastic counterpart to our inner anguish; to psychological states that remain hidden inside, invisible to us. I am passionate about the human being: its acts, its dark motives, its psychological impulses, its frenzied endeavours to make dreams come true, its desires and passions. This is our fate. This psychological activity that consumes us is what art strives to discover' (John Christoforou, Paris, November 1978, quoted in the exhibition catalogue John Christoforou – Man: The Fallen Angel , Athens, 2002). Born in London of Greek parents, Cristoforou spent his childhood in Greece but returned to London in 1938. Cristoforou enlisted in the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II, and undertook missions by air in the Far East. He began to paint upon his return to London, and exhibited for the first time in 1949. The work of Christoforou is an uninhibited expression of fallen man's need for moral expiation; vivid colours and violent gestures create powerful illustrations of the human experience.