Yiannis Moralis (Greek, 1916-2009) Epithalamion signed in Greek and dated '64' (lower right); signed and dated 'MORALIS/ATHÈNES/1964' (on the reverse) oil on canvas 73 x 50 cm. Painted in 1964. Footnotes: Provenance T. Zoumboulakis gallery. Private collection, Athens. Bonhams, London, The Greek Sale, 25 November 2014, lot 74. Acquired from the above sale by Epsilon Art collection. Exhibited Athens, Tassos Zoumboulakis Gallery, 1964, no 14. Athens, Alexander Iolas – Zoumboulakis Gallery, March 1972, no. 14 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue). Athens, National Gallery - A. Soutzos Museum, Yannis Moralis, April 1988, no. 51 (possibly). Literature Yannis Moralis, Commercial Bank of Greece Group of Companies, Athens 1988, no. 146, p. 146 (illustrated). Moralis, Adam editions, Athens 1993, no. 86 (illustrated). Echoing age-old memories of antiquity's epithalamia nuptial songs dedicated to the bride and sung on the way to her marital chamber, this perfectly balanced composition of pure form, elegant line, harmonious proportion and disciplined rhythm, adheres to a coherent inner order dictated by the timeless values of ancient Greek art and the classical sense for human scale. The painting is one of the finest examples of Moralis's famed epithalamia series from the 1960s, a body of work celebrating the erotic union of man and woman and representing both a continuation of and a departure from his earlier epitymvia compositions. As noted by Athens National Gallery Director M. Marina Lambraki-Plaka, 'in the artist's epithalamia paintings, volumes recede, handing supremacy over to the outlines, which tense dynamically to suggest the third dimension. His palette is now limited to warm siennas and ochres, evening-sky blues, whites, blacks and greys. Even subtle chiaroscuro effects are totally abolished, while colours become solid and completely flat. Paradoxically, the more 'modern' Moralis becomes the more classical, the more 'ancient' he tends to be.'1 Here, his evocative female nude is stripped of descriptive detail and handled in such an abstractive fashion that it takes on a symbolical meaning, liberated from the burden of physical existence without losing its recognisable form. One can almost trace the progress from the sensual aspects of the subject to the metaphysical and transcendental. As Nobel Laureate O. Elytis once noted, Moralis was always driven by a longing for the monumental, bestowing even on his most sensual conceptions a feeling of mystery and a sense of the sacred.2 1. M. Lambraki-Plaka, Yannis Moralis, a 20th Century Classic in A Tribute to Yannis Moralis, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery - A. Soutzos Museum, Athens 2011, p. 12. 2. See O. Elytis's preface to the Moralis exhibition catalogue, Iolas-Zoumboulakis Gallery, Athens 1972. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com