Events Calendar – British School at Athens

BSA Friends Greece lecture

George Batzanopoulos (John Craxton Estate), “John Craxton: Painting the Land of the Apollonian and the Dionysian”

Abstract: This lecture presents the main findings of George Batzanopoulos’ undergraduate dissertation, John Craxton: Painting the Land of the Apollonian and the Dionysian, completed at The Courtauld Institute of Art. The research examines how the British painter John Craxton interpreted Greece through a visual language of contrasts, focusing on the interplay between light and darkness and between linearity and angularity in his paintings. These visual oppositions are interpreted through the Nietzschean schema of the Apollonian and the Dionysian in order to articulate Craxton’s portrayal of Hellenicity. Drawing on close visual analysis of key works from Craxton’s Greek period, the talk explores how the artist translated the Greek landscape, climate, and everyday life into a pictorial system of polarizes. Particular attention is given to the role of light, line, and colour in shaping Craxton’s vision of Greece, as well as to how his position as an English ‘outsider’ allowed him to perceive Hellenicity as a dynamic balance between order and spontaneity. The lecture will also reflect on new perspectives that emerged from archival research and discussions with figures closely connected to the artist, offering fresh insights into Craxton’s artistic identity and his enduring relationship with Greece.

The lecture will be introduced by Ian Collins.

Bio: George Batzanopoulos is an art historian, specialising in twentieth-century Greek and European painting. He recently completed his BA in History of Art at The Courtauld Institute of Art, where his dissertation, John Craxton: Painting the Land of the Apollonian and the Dionysian, — the first academic paper on the artist — examined Craxton’s portrayal of Hellenicity and illuminated uncovered aspects of his oeuvre. Batzanopoulos currently works as an assistant curator at the Athens War Museum and as an archivist at the John Craxton Estate.

image: John Craxton, Two Figures and Setting Sun, 1952– 67, oil on canvas, 122 × 244 cm, Private Collection. © DACS/ John Craxton Estate. All rights reserved.

Hybrid

To attend in person in Athens, please register here

To attend online via webinar, please register here