Provenance:
Private collection, Athens.

One can almost feel the invigorating sea breeze in Waiting for the tide, a rare jewel by an exceptional talent and pioneering Greek seascapist whose promising career in Denmark was cut short at the age of twenty six. Having emerged a decade before Constantinos Volanakis, Altamoura showed an acute awareness of the artistic trends of his time - not only of the Danish or Flemish schools but also of British and French marine painting -1 arriving at some highly advanced pictorial formulations. As noted by Athens National Gallery Director M. Lambraki-Plaka, “Altamoura penetrated so deep into the philosophy and technique of impressionism, that he could be considered one of its forerunners on a European level.”2

Altamoura constantly returned to the seashore as a source of inspiration. In Waiting for the tide, the breadth and openness of the sky, gently mottled with travelling clouds, the suggestion of the atmosphere, the special quality of light associated with coastal scenery and the jewel-like details, such as the strolling couple in the middle ground perfectly integrated in the watery environment, have been portrayed with effortless brilliance and a vivid sense of on-the-spot immediacy.

1. M. V(lachos), The Emergence of Modern Greek Painting 1830-1930 from the Bank of Greece Collection, exhibition catalogue Washington 2002, p. 68. See also Vlachos, Greek Seascape Painting [in Greek], Olkos publ., Athens 1993, p. 138.
2. M. Lambraki-Plaka, National Gallery-Alexandros Soutzos Museum, Four Centuries of Greek Painting, Athens 2000, p. 128.