Portrait of George Nazos, 1880

Nikolaos Ghyzis is regarded as one of the greatest creative artists in modern Greek art and a leading painter of the nineteenth century. Together with Nikiphoros Lytras, Constantinos Volanakis, and Georgios Iakovidis, he was an important representative of the Munich School, which influenced the development of art in Greece for some 50 years. His multi-faceted personality meant that he created a composite oeuvre in which, in spite of the blending of differing trends in art, he retained his personal style and approached forms of art which put him among the avant-garde of the late nineteenth century. By nature poetic and intuitive, a devotee of music and harmony, Ghyzis lent spirituality even to works with scenes from everyday life or depictions of simple objects. At the same time, in his allegorical-idealistic compositions, in spite of the fact that he was involved in these trends of his time, he expressed his individual vision, which was characterised by a deeply experienced religious faith and an incurable nostalgia for his homeland. Despite living and gaining recognition in Munich, in a foreign land, his profound reflections never ceased to be imbued with the dream of a return which he never made and a vision of his 'glorious' native land.