Special Information for the Artist
Alexandrakis became widely known from his unusually vivid depictions of the Greek-Italian War of 1940.
He showed early on his talent for drawing and painting. At age 17, he presented 23 of his works in an exhibition organized by the YMCA. He studied painting in the Athens School of Fine Arts under Spyridon Vikatos and Argyros Umbertos. Later, he attended engraving courses under Giannis Kefallinos. He graduated from the school in 1937 and started to participate in various exhibitions.
In the war of 1940, the painter and the five brothers were conscripted. He served in the mountains of Epirus as a corporal of artillery. He captured his experiences in a series of sketches and oil paintings that became widely known as they were reprinted on posters and used in numerous school holidays. Approximately one hundred works bsed on the war were also published in an album titled “So we fought” (1968). After the war he worked extensively on the nude form. He also illustrated the reading promer for the fifth class of the Greek Primary Schools (1958).
His work became known outside Greece. He began collaborations with the Guggenheim Museum and the Library of Congress. Unfortunately, he died at age 55, when he started to become widely known.
In 1980, the National Gallery of Greece honored him with a retrospective exhibition. More recently, the gallery "K" has works by the artist in London (1998 and 2005) and Nicosia (1999).
