Theodoros Stamos returns to Lefkada

Theodoros Stamos returns back to his island Lefkada

Theodoros Stamos, the Greek visual artist, is one of the most important representatives of abstract expressionism.

He was born in New York City on December 31, 1922. He was the fourth of six children in an immigrant family. His father came from Lefkada and his mother from Sparta.

In the last years of his life, he lived in Lefkada where he created some of the most important works of his career inspired by the serenity, the special color palette and the immense natural beauty of the island.

100 years since Theodoros Stamos birth exhibition in Lefkada

Theodoros Stamos will be honored at his place, Lefkada, for the 100 years since his birth (1922-1997). The Cultural Center of the municipality of Lefkada in cooperation with the foundation “Greek diaspora” organizes an exhibition with more than forty works by Stamos from the series “endless fields – Lefkada”, which will take place from September 15 to October 15, 2022 and will be developed in the premises of the Municipal Gallery and the Art Gallery “Theodoros Stamos”.

The selection of the time period was based on the participation of schools with educational programs and guided tours, so that the younger generation can embrace and understand the great work of the internationally renowned Lefkaditi painter.

Theodoros Stamos – Lefkada series special edition album

For the needs of the tribute, a luxurious album entitled “Theodoros Stamos – Lefkada series” was issued, which is available free of charge and those interested can purchase it from the Cultural Center and the art gallery “Theodoros Stamos”

The Lefkada of Stamos by the vice president of the Cultural Center, Mrs. Chara Saiti

“Only someone who loved Lefkada so much could transform its endless fields of color and light. Stamos returned to an “Ithaca”, to lay his soul at rest from the pettiness of this world. A world that chased him like prey, that wronged him and perhaps still wrongs him today. But his work remained unscathed, no matter how much the painter was hurt by his best friends and colleagues. Lefkada was his port, the end of his journey. He lived the island deeply, as only he knew. And Lefkada revealed her light. A light soft and filtered through the humid Southerners and the alisachni of the Ionian Sea. Blinding sometimes, and sometimes ethereal and elusive. The orange of her sun when sets behind the Mountains, The Endless Blue that girdles the island, the White as an underscore of life, the black as a reminder of death. Strange strips of land among waters, foams bursting on the golden sand, undiagnosed shadows marrying bright paths. And all this – effortlessly spread to fit one thing: Stamos’ big love for Lefkada, his place.

Let us hope for a permanent lodging for his tortured works, here, where he left his last breath…”