By Nassos Daphnis
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed and numbered limited edition of 100.
Nassos Daphnis was a Greek-born American abstract painter, sculptor and tree peony breeder.
Born, 1914, Greece - Died, 2010, Provincetown, MA
known for Hard-edge painting, Op art, Expressionism, Geometric abstraction
Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada
Daphnis served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945. During his service he was asked to put his skills as a painter to use and created camouflage for use on enormous military relief maps. It is speculated by some art critics that it was while painting camouflage that Daphnis developed the signature flatness later recognizable in his abstract geometric paintings.
While Daphnis is generally regarded as a self-taught artist, he did pursue some formal training. When Italy invaded Greece in 1940 and Greek War Relief was organized, all the Greek American artists in New York got together: "Constant, Vassos, Lekakis, Nassos Daphnis, everyone. Along with Chryssa, Theodoros Stamos and Peter Voulkos he is one of the best known artists of the Hellenic American Diaspora.Following his military service, Daphnis trained at the Art Students League of New York. From 1949-1951, Daphnis studied in Paris. From 1951-1952, he continued his studies at the Istituto Statale D'Arte in Firenze, Italy. In 1952 he returned again briefly to Paris for additional study.
Daphnis' artistic style evolved throughout his career. He began as a realist and following the war, moved on to biomorphic kinetic forms with a Surrealist influence.
From March 24-April 11, 1947, Daphnis had an eponymous solo exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Gallery at 106 E 57th St, New York at which his biomorphic paintings were featured. The exhibition included both oil paintings and watercolors.
In the 1950s, Daphnis traveled back to Greece with the assistance of the G.I. Bill. While there he began to see the stark, clear light change his perception of the buildings and forms around him. Structures were simplified and became geometric planes of pure color. Following this trop, Daphnis developed his color-plane theory and focused on geometric abstraction with a restricted color palette of only black, white and primary colors. This became his signature style and these works are often characterized as being painted in the Hard-edge style of geometric abstraction. His style is frequently compared with Piet Mondrian; however, Daphnis saw Mondrian's approach as a jumping off point. Daphnis was also described as an abstract imagist, a term which arose from a 1961 exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, called American Abstract Expressionists and Imagists, in which he participated.
In the late 1980s, Daphnis' style evolved again as he began to integrate new forms of digital computer technology into his practice. Expanding on his color palette, he also incorporated a few additional colors. Daphnis' employment of computer-generated graphics and use of the Atari ST to develop his radical digital landscapes can best be understood as a proto New Media attitude.
Gallery Representation
For nearly forty years Nassos Daphnis was represented by the Leo Castelli Gallery. Castelli gave him 17 solo exhibitions in his gallery and regularly included his work in group exhibitions featuring artists such as Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Lee Bontecou. Castelli also regularly submitted Daphnis' works to exhibitions at a variety of galleries and institutions. For instance, from November 9-December 9, 1964, Daphnis' EPX 28-64 was included in "Art in Wood Today" as presented by the United States Plywood Corporation with the assistance of Dr. Richard MccLanathan of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts at the company's new New York headquarters. Other Pop Art artists in this exhibition included Robert Indiana, Louise Nevelson and Andy Warhol. Similarly, from May 16-June 10, 1967, Daphnis' work was exhibited in dialogue with Nicholas Krushenick in "Paintings/Collages Krushenick/Daphnis" at the Franklin Siden Gallery in Detroit.
In his later years, Daphnis also exhibited at the Eaton/Schoen Gallery in San Francisco and the Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York. From May 6-July 4, 2008, Anita Shapolsky Gallery's "Masters of Abstraction" included work by Daphnis along with Seymour Boardman, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell and Aaron Siskind.
In August 2015, Richard Taittinger Gallery...
Category
1970s Abstract Geometric Nassos Daphnis Art