Thomas Thomopoulos ΘΩΜΑΣ ΘΩΜΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ
Born 1873 Died 1937
Thomas Thomopoulos was a multi-talented artist: sculptor, painter, photographer, and more. As a sculptor, he tried his hand at everything from busts to bas reliefs to figures so large that one of his efforts in the First Cemetery of Athens has had us itching to clamber up it to get a closer look. He was both prolific and popular although many of his works caused controversy. His sculptures can be seen all over Greece but in Athens in particular, in parks and squares and in the First Cemetery. One of his efforts meant for Athens’ Omonia Square gravitated all the way to Laconia in the Peloponnese where it can now be enjoyed by anyone passing through the Outer Mani. There is a story there.
They say his heart was as big as his talent. He is remembered for his rediscovery and promotion of the works of sculptor Yannoulis Chalepas and his championing of the second phase of that tragic sculptor’s work.
Athenians no doubt know him best for his sculpture of Greek Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis outside of the Old Parliament Building on Stadiou Street in the heart of downtown Athens. Most of us have passed it countless times over the years.
It is worth a pauseto take a closer look.
His Life
Thomas was born in 1873 in Smyrna, Asia Minor, to parents who hailed from the Island of Cyprus, but he, himself, grew up in Athens. When he completed high school, he enrolled at the Athens School of Arts where he was taught by the classicist Georgios Vroutos (Γεώργιος Βρούτος ) and by painter Nikoforos Litras (Νικηφόρος Λύτρας). He was a very promising student, winning two prestigious awards: the Thomaidio (Θωμαϊδιο) and the Chrisovergio (Χρυσοβέργειο) (1) He continued his studies in Munich at the Fine Arts Academy there as well as at the workshop of classicist Syrius Eberle (Σ. Έμπερλε), a German sculptor and art professor.
An Eberle work
After visiting Florence, Naples and Rome, he returned to Athens in 1900 at the age of 27 to open his own workshop at 10 Syngrou Avenue. That would have put him in sight of the temple of Olympian Zeus and not far from the First Cemetery. Marble workshops, because of the collaborative nature of the work itself, needed space and resembled a factory floor rather than a compact studio and Thomopoulos’ was perhaps more chaotic than most because of his interest in so many mediums. In 1930, Journalist Dimitris Kallonas described Thomopoulos’ workshop:
Museum, storage, workshop, gallery. Which was it? White and coloured statues, nudes and clay moulds, unworked marble, blocks and paintings, watercolours, oils, charcoal, wood carving, bas reliefs, photographs, oil lamps, books and candles.
Thomopoulos was one of the last Greek sculptors to study primarily in Germany. Paris or Italy had slowly become the focus and, although Thomopoulos was a huge fan of Rodin during his career, those who know say that the early influence of Syrius Eberle and Italian sculptors is easily detected in his work.
In January of 1912 he was appointed professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts, a position he would retain for 25 years until his death. His career flourished and in 1930, while in his 50s, he was elected as a member of the prestigious Academy of Athens.
He died in Athens in 1937 at the age of 64.
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Thomas Thomopoulos as painted by Georgos Mavroidis |
Thomopoulos and Yiannoulis Chalepas
Thomopoulos and Chalepas in front of the Parthenon
At the beginning of 1925, Thomopoulos went to Tinοs, the
island of sculptors, with the commission to rescue and study the early works of Yiannoulis
Chalepas and to copy whatever works could be saved. He made sure he was accompanied by special
technicians from the archaeological service. He was so impressed with Chalepas’
new work that he returned to Athens to assure the art world that the sculptors current
work was of even
superior quality and that the artists himself was possessed of
both a ‘strong and uncomplicated
character’. This was a polite way of
saying that Chalepas, who had spent many years in a mental institution and had
been reduced to poverty and animal herding, was sane. He wrote:
“I believe without any hesitation that the ‘spirit of art’ (δαίμονας της τέχνης) has led him to new creations which are pure archaic, counter to the classical style. I believe that it is our holy duty toward this great creator, Yiannoulis Chalepas to recommend to the competent authorities to salvage his work as a burst of light for the rebirth of Modern Greek sculpture.”
A drawing of Chalepas by Thomopoulos
Thomopoulos organized an exhibition for Chalepas and declared the works of his second period ‘true masterpieces’. Some fellow artists agreed wholeheartedly with Thomopoulos; others did not. But the debate itself renewed interest in, not just Chalepas, but sculpture in general. Thomopoulos’ generosity and interest gave the long suffering Chalepas happiness and prestige during his final years.
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Fellow artists pose with Chalepas (with the white beard) |
A Sampling of Thomopulos’ Work
The Statue of Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis (Χαριλαος Τρικουπης)
The idea of erecting a statue of Trikoupis in front of the Greek Parliament building he had presided over so often, was considered as early as 1904, eight years after his death, but the money could not be found. It needed 14 years and a large private donation from an Egyptian Greek before it was ceremoniously unveiled near the main entrance of the building on January 26, 1920. Thomopoulos stated object was to present to future generations an austere portrait of Trikoupis as a man of great vision. He depicts him standing ramrod straight, gazing straight ahead, hands behind his back, with his left foot inching forward just a whisper. Thomopoulos wanted the overall shape of the work to recall an ancient stele and, at the same time, to avoid what he called ‘any rhetorical movement’ or ‘superfluous detail’.
The stele-like silhouette
The naked and opened winged ‘spirit’ perched on the pedestal is meant to embody ancient strength and beauty. One of its functions, by looking at it and framing it with its arms, is to draw attention to the famous quotation of Trikoupis carved beside it.
The inscription reads:
Η ΕΛΛΑΣ ΘΕΛΕΙ ΝΑ ΖΗΣΗ ΚΑΙ ΘΑ ΖΗΣΗ
‘Greece wants to live and will live’
The flavour of the word ‘live’ suggests not merely living or surviving, but thriving, and the word ‘wants’ might be better translated as ‘is destined’. These were brave and optimistic words from the prime minister of a struggling and bankrupt nation. The ancient spirit’s presence also symbolically validates Trikoupis by association - as part of the zeitgeist of the national consciousness stemming from ancient Greece until the present.
Just under the angel’s feet the sculptor has placed his own name in the tradition of Greek sculptors since the classical period: THOMAS THOMOPOULOS MADE ME (ΘΩΜΑΣ ΘΩΜΟΠΟΥΛΣ ΕΠΟΙΕΙ). Greek artists were the very first to sign their work in the ancient world and modern Greek sculptors use that same verb: made me - thereby emphasizing that their own work is part of a long tradition. A sculptor’s signature is not always this easy to find. It is often on the side or even the back of their works. Here Thomopoulos choose to make his name a “footnote” to his sculpture.
How successfully Thomopoulos integrated the pedestal figure with 19th century man above is up to you to decide.
Since a renovation in 1954, this sculpture has been positioned on the south side of the building.
The Casket of Constantinos Kanaris
Not all of his commissions were large and one task seems slightly macabre. (2) In 1929 Thomopoulos created the marble casket surrounding the heart of revolutionary hero Constantinos Kanaris. It was originally placed with great ceremony at the offices of the Naval Ministry but now resides inside the Old Parliament Building museum. The rest of his body is buried in the First Cemetery.
Thomopoulos’ Ill-fated Proposal for The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square
Architect Emmanuel Lazaridis (Εμμανουήλ Λαζαρίδης ) was chosen to create the area around the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and to integrate the monument into the surrounding area. He chose Thomas Thomopoulos to develop the all important central tableau. Thomopoulos came up with a fairly complicated scene which recalled the ancient Gigantomachy in which winged figures (again) symbolizing Greece would lovingly accept the body of the dead soldier in front of an ancient stele.
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Thomopoulos’ Proposal
Sculpted by Fokion Rok between 1930 and 32
No artist likes to have his proposals rejected: It looks like the depiction of a stale herring, sniffed Thomopoulos. After reading this dismissal of Rok’s work it is hard not to see that splayed out dead fish...
Thomopoulos and The Statue of Demeter
Demeter
It all started when he became part of a commission of sculptors responsible for one of the many efforts to beautify Omonia Square. In this case we are talking about the early 30s when the square was a construction site because of the electric railway station beneath it being renovated. Mayor Spiros Mercouri (grandfather of Melina) decided on a series of figures (12 muses, the 3 graces, Hestia and Demeter) each sitting above a largish hollow, room-like squared base (each to be constructed over the grilles needed to aerate the underground railway) would be just the thing to beautify Omonia . Each would be seated directly over the base at the foot of a tall ionic column which could also act as a light standard. The figures were to be of concrete and only two, Hestia and Demeter, were to be of Pendelic marble. It was the depression, after all. Costs had to be considered. Thomopoulos and his son created the marble Demeter for the project.
In the end, only eight columns were placed because the plans kept changing. The rest ended up in the city’s storerooms.
It didn’t matter much in any case because the public simply hated the renovation which was soundly lampooned in the press:
Cartoonist Fokion Dimitriadis (Φωκίων Δημητριάδης) has Erato throwing up as she views the renovation effort. Other damning sketches followed.
Soon all the ladies were in storage. Over time, they were meted out to the provinces by the municipality of Athens (Karditsa, Thebes and Amorgos were recipients). Thomopoulos’ Demeter was destined to have a new life in Karyes, Laconia. She and her marble mate, Hestia, can now be seen presiding over the entrance to this tiny village with an appropriate notice on their pedestals reminding the villagers of the largesse of their capital city!
Thomopoulos’ Statue of Liberty in Crete (4)
Shortly before the death of Thomopoulos, Ioannis Iliakis (Ιωάννης Ηλιάκης) the former secretary of the great Eleftherios Venizelos proposed that a large statue representing Liberty be placed on the hill of Profitis Ilias in Akrotiri, Chania to represent the struggle for freedom and the sacrifices of the Cretan people. Thomopoulos got the commission and soon a 17 metre high marble behemoth was taking form in his workshop. It took on the form of the goddess Athena and was, to say the least, an ambitious project for these post Phidian days
Athena as “Liberty’ in the workshop
One critic labelled it ‘the disgusting statue of Thomopoulos’; others ‘the monster’; others ‘the freak’. Some critics have argued that it was unfair to blacken the name of Thomopoulos in this way because he had died before the statue was completed. It was finished by a personal enemy of Thomopoulos, sculptor Michalis Tombros (Μιχάλης Τόμπρος). Still, it stood proud over Chania for many decades after its placement in 1937.
‘Liberty’ in all her glory
It was apparently damaged by German bombs in the Second World War and by earthquakes over the years. Liberty was dismantled in 1970.
‘Liberty in retirement’
Thomopoulos in the First Cemetery
Including his own grave, we found four examples of Thomopoulos’ work in the First Cemetery.
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ΙΩΑΝΝΙΣ ΚΟΝΙΑΒΙΤΗΣ 1922 |
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ΑΡ. Π. ΚΟΥΖΗΣ Plaza,
Number 12 |
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The Family tomb of the Othona Tetenes ( ΟΘΩΝΑ ΤΕΤΕΝΕΣ)family: 1932 Section 8, Number 128 |
This one, larger than life, is a tour de force. It is as if a two dimensional Victorian family portrait somehow rendered itself in three dimensions. Thomopoulos would have been working from a photograph. It is certainly imposing and one of my personal favourites because of its size and sheer chutzpah.
The Grave of Thomas Thomopoulos
Section 7. Number 21
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)
) Dimitrios Thomaidio
played an important part in the rise of the Polytechnic’s role; he was a large donor to
the school. The Chrissovergio was named after another donor to the school and
was instituted in 1891.
(2) The practice of literally taking out the heart of a hero, whether cultural or historical does not raise eyebrows in Greece. Byron’s heart resides in Messolonghi although he is buried in England. I remember seeing the heart of a poet from Levadia in Arcadia having pride of place in a small folk museum. (3)See this website for a more detailed account: https://www.academia.edu/37718600/%CE%A6%CE%A9%CE%9A%CE%99%CE%A9%CE%9D_%CE%A1%CE%A9%CE%9A_%CE%9F_%CE%93%CE%9B%CE%A5%CE%A0%CE%A4%CE%97%CE%A3_%CE%9A%CE%91%CE%99_%CE%A4%CE%9F_%CE%91%CE%A1%CE%A7%CE%95%CE%99%CE%9F_%CE%A4%CE%9F%CE%A5
(4) Quite a detailed history of the Liberty statue can be got by googling Statue of freedom, Thomopoulos, Crete which then offers this long address: Filia’s sources: https://web.archive.org/web/20160305140530/http://www.nationalgallery.gr/site/content.php?sel=681&artist_id=4723 https://dromospoihshs.home.blog/2019/09/02/thomas_thomopoulos/ https://m.lifo.gr/guide/cultureblogs/magic-circus/4564 https://slpress.gr/politismos/i-glyptiki-stin-propolemiki-athina/ https://argolikivivliothiki.gr/tag/%CE%BC%CE%BD%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%B1/ http://geromorias.blogspot.com/2019/06/blog-post_98.html https://mikros-romios.gr/kanari/ https://fa-elia-miet.blogspot.com/2015/05/blog-post.html https://www.facebook.com/yiork/photos/a.1679637048953345/202 And https://www.academia.edu/37718600/%CE%A6%CE%A9%CE%9A%CE%99%CE%A9%CE%9D_%CE%A1%CE%A9%CE%9A_%CE%9F_%CE%93%CE%9B%CE%A5%CE%A0%CE%A4%CE%97%CE%A3_%CE%9A%CE%91%CE%99_%CE%A4%CE%9F_%CE%91%CE%A1%CE%A7%CE%95%CE%99%CE%9F_%CE%A4%CE%9F%CE%A5 ( on Fokion Rok and the proposal for the unknown soldier)
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(1
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