Abstract Oil Painting by Constantine Pougialis

Constantine Pougialis was born in Xylokastro, Greece and arrived in America in 1913. The same year, the famous Armory Show took place, the introduction of the European Avant-Garde Art in New York. Pougialis learned from his father about the restoration of Byzantium paintings in Greek orthodox churches. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, then traveled to Greece and Paris, where he completed his studies. Pougialis traveled quite a bit in Mexico, Canada, Italy and Spain, then returned to Chicago where he became (1938–62) one of the most popular lecturers of the Art Institute of Chicago. "He painted people images and then passed to cubism and expressionism, and finally in abstract images" (Angelos Prokopiou, Art in the United States, Athens 1961). Pougialis was a member of the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists, a group devoted to pushing artistic boundaries.