Lot 404 D

This bronze sculpture (1959) by Joannis Avramidis is a reference to the human body, a subject which the artist has untiringly varied again and again in all his works. Logically, his inspiration comes from two historical periods in which man was seen as the measure of all things: antiquity and the early Italian Renaissance. Above all, Avramidis feels indebted to Greek sculpture and proclaims proudly: “I am a Hellene.” (Joannis Avramidis, Antworten, in: Galerie Appel and Fertsch (ed.), Joannis Avramidis, exh.cat. Galerie Appel und Fertsch, Frankfurt/M., Frankfurt/M. 1967, p.4).

Each bronze sculpture is preceded by several stages which the artist developed in the 1950s and which have since then been central to his creative process: He starts by sketching a draft in which he explores different longitudinal views of the sculpture. This is followed by the design of a model, made from sheets of aluminium, cut to size, and arranged at different levels. The artist then gradually fills each compartment with plaster, thus creating the mould for the final sculpture. This bronze sculpture, which he called Figure II and which is intended to be viewed from all sides, imitates the gentle curves of a body, yet without mapping it in detail: The different profile views of the figure are fanned out yet at the same time interlocked in the artist's own characteristic manner. There is no clear dividing line here between abstraction and figurative representation.