λ Spyros Vassiliou (Greek 1902-1984)View of AthensOil on canvas laid to boardSigned and dated 66 (lower right) 54 x 71.5cm (21¼ x 28 in.)UnframedProvenance:A gift from the artistThence by descent to the present ownerExhibited:London, Upper Grosvenor Galleries, Vassiliou's Greece, July 1966Spyros Vassiliou (Greek 1902-1984) was a Greek painter, illustrator, and stage designer. In 1921, Vassiliou travelled to Athens to study at the Athens School of Fine Art and just eight years later held his first individual exhibition at the Stratigopoulos Gallery. A year later in 1930, Vassiliou was awarded the Benaki Prize and in 1934, was chosen to represent Greece at the Venice Biennale. This was an honour which would be repeated in 1964. Among his accolades Vassiliou was awarded the Solomon R. Guggenheim National Selection Award in 1960, for his painting Lights and Shadows. A year earlier he had also been invited to exhibit at the Sao Paulo Art Biennale. Combining elements of both Impressionism and Cubism, Vassiliou became an important member of the community of Greek artists, known as the Thirties Generation, which included Yiannis Tsarouchis, Yiannis Moralis and Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas. The aim of these young Greek artists was to link and incorporate the leading European art trends of the time with Greek tradition. This is something which Vassiliou achieves with great success in the present lot. Depicting the artist's hometown of Athens, a favourite subject of Vassiliou's which he often returned to, there is a specific focus on the transformation and development of the urban environment. The muted and monochrome palatte often employed and seen here, would be paired with floating symbols of Greek life in an homage to the Byzantine icon. In this instance Vassiliou uses two newspaper cuttings and applies them to the lower left and right corners of the canvas.Vassiliou's work has been exhibited in galleries throughout Europe, the United States and Canada.