George Bouzianis is remembered as one of Greece’s leading expressionist painters. Born in Athens on 8 November 1885, he studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts under teachers including Nikiphoros Lytras, Konstantinos Volanakis, Georgios Roilos and Dimitrios Geraniotis.
In 1907 he moved to Munich to continue his studies, later going to Berlin where he worked with Max Liebermann. By 1917 he had absorbed the spirit of German expressionism into his own style and soon became a respected figure in Germany, exhibiting with the Barchfeld gallery. A major show of his work was held in Chemnitz in 1927, and between 1929 and 1932 he lived in Paris with support from the gallery.
The rise of Nazism and the decline of expressionism in Germany eventually forced him back to Greece in 1934. He was initially met with hostility from Athenian art circles and failed to secure a teaching post at the School of Fine Arts. Recognition came later, particularly after his exhibition at the Parnassos gallery in 1949. In 1950 he represented Greece at the Venice Biennale, and he later received the first Greek award in the Guggenheim competition.
Bouzianis died in Athens on 23 October 1959. His house in Dafni has since been turned into a museum, and his paintings are held in the National Gallery of Athens and other collections in Greece and abroad.
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