Joannis Avramidis - Der Schreitende (Halbprofil) - image-1
Joannis Avramidis - Der Schreitende (Halbprofil) - image-2
Joannis Avramidis - Der Schreitende (Halbprofil) - image-1Joannis Avramidis - Der Schreitende (Halbprofil) - image-2

Lot 29 D

Joannis Avramidis - Der Schreitende (Halbprofil)

Auction 1200 - overview Cologne
01.06.2022, 18:00 - Evening Sale - Modern and Contemporary Art
Estimate: 60.000 € - 80.000 €
Result: 100.800 € (incl. premium)

Joannis Avramidis

Der Schreitende (Halbprofil)
1966-1969/1999

Bronze with golden brown patina. Height approx. 170 cm. Punched signature 'AVRAMIDIS' on base and numbered. Cast 2/3 (+0/3 +PA/3). - Minor traces of age.

On the figure of the ‘Striding Man’ from the works of Joannis Avramidis, Michael Semff wrote the following:
“Avramidis developed three variants on the theme of the ‘Striding Man’, the earliest version of which is a small aluminium version created in Hamburg in 1966. The ‘classical’ square version, which the artist created in 1969 in bronze and aluminium as a life-size work, was joined in 1999 by two equally large ‘Striding Men’, which transformed the original idea of two strips running closely alongside each other into a more organic round form. The initial result was a completely round version in which the two dynamic parallel ‘columns’ make reference to the biaxial static ‘Kouros’ of 1956. Compared to the semicircular version of the ‘Striding Man’, also created in 1999, the former construction certainly appears to be the most ‘naturalistic’ interpretation of the theme, while the division of the form makes it more abstract and concise, lending the individual parts a more functional and symbolic expression and, at the same time, slenderness and elegance. To a certain extent – especially when viewed from the side – one could speak of a hybrid, partially square and partially round, as this side view is a synthesis of the arboreal-organic growth of the leg section and torso developing out of the plinth and the static appearance of the razor-sharp contoured, flat cut surface that forms the inside of the leg displaced by the striding position. In sculptures such as this, Avramidis achieves a captivating fusion of drawing and sculpture, of silhouette and volume. Without a doubt, the sculptor’s early claim to keep the graphic conditions verifiable and clearly legible for the viewer at all times is fulfilled. This is in line with Avramidis’ fundamental concern that a legible work can also be taught.” (Michael Semff, Joannis Avramidis, Skulpturen und Zeichnungen, Munich 2005, pp.305/306)

Provenance

Galerie Welz, Salzburg (2005); private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia

Literature

Lempertz Berlin, Joannis Avramidis, exhib.cat., Berlin 2016, cat.no.1, p.30 with illus. (different cast)
Werner Hofmann, Avramidis oder Der Rhythmus der Strenge, Munich 2011, n.p. with illus. 79/80 (illus. of aluminium construction)
Michael Semff, Joannis Avramidis, Skulpturen und Zeichnungen, Munich 2005, p.305 with illus. 201 (different cast)

Exhibitions

Vienna 2017 (Leopold Museum), Joannis Avramidis, exhib.cat., p.53 with illus. 7, p.187 with illus. (different cast)
Vienna 2012 (Galerie bei der Albertina Zetter), Joannis Avramidis, Hommage zum 90. Geburtstag 2012, exhib.cat. no. 14, p.36/37 with col. illus. (different cast)