Painted c. 1930

Exhibited:
Venice, 19th International Biennale Exhibition of art, 1934-XII
Athens, Cultural centre of the Municipality of Aghia Paraskevi, Spyros Vassiliou, November 1987 (illustrated in the catalogue)

In this early work, which was exhibited at the Biennale of Venice in 1934, Vassiliou provides a visual record of Athens during the inter-war period. Athens and its people, its changing ways of life and the encroachment of ”modernity” were subjects that were to preoccupy the artist throughout his life. This abiding interest in everyday life was directly inspired by his admiration for Breughel, who he claimed as one of the artists that influenced his artistic development.
In the present painting, Mt. Hymettus, which was to serve as a background for many of his later works, looms protectively over the scene of the strolling crowds. The monochromatic palette is relieved by the dazzling white Olympic Stadium, which had been renovated for the first modern Olympic Games, held in 1896