Biography
Charis Voyatzis, born in Athens in 1924 with family roots in Limni, Evia, began his artistic development during the difficult years of the Occupation, entering the Athens School of Fine Arts in 1942. He had the privilege of studying under Konstantinos Parthenis until his graduation in 1947, becoming one of the master’s favorite students and gaining rare access to his private studio. During his studies, he distinguished himself by winning the first prize in portraiture, as well as commendations in nude and composition. The influence of Parthenis on his work was not merely stylistic mimicry but was decisive regarding his intellectual stance toward visual arts and the search for the internal structure of composition.
A major turning point in his career occurred in 1954 when, supported by a state scholarship, he settled in Paris, which became the center of his artistic activity for the remainder of his life. In the French capital, he enriched his technical training by studying fresco at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (1954–1955) and decoration at the École des Métiers d'Arts (1954–1957) under Professor J. Auzame. His specialization in fresco deeply influenced his painting, leading him to the use of the spatula and the creation of works characterized by intense materiality and architectural structure.
Through this apprenticeship and experimentation, Voyatzis developed a personal visual idiom that balanced between abstraction and representation, evolving from an initial expressionism with violent colors to a more abstract and geometric rendering of light and space. His thematic focus remained centered on the Greek landscape, the rocks, and the light of the Aegean, which he approached not with a descriptive or tourist intent, but spiritually, seeking the “sensible geometry” of the light. Critics such as Waldemar George noted that Voyatzis was not satisfied with the simple organization of space, observing that his color often overflowed the boundaries of form.
His international career was marked by a significant, exclusive collaboration with the “Les Arts Plastiques Modernes” (Mouradian-Vallotton) gallery in Paris from 1957 to 1974. In this space, his works were permanently exhibited alongside creations by masters of modern art such as Cézanne, Derain, Modigliani, Ernst, and Rouault. He held solo exhibitions in prominent venues, such as the Galerie Coard in Paris in 1967 and the Neukölln hall in Berlin in 1974 following an invitation from the German Ministry of Culture, while also participating in group exhibitions in cities like Brussels and Stockholm. In Greece, he presented his work in galleries such as “Architectoniki” in 1962 and the “Ora” Art Center in 1975 and 1980.
Beyond easel painting, Voyatzis also engaged in large-scale applications and theater. He designed the scenery for Sophocles' “Ajax” at the Théâtre Récamier in Paris in 1963 and supervised the color design of the facades (1,200 square meters) of the Atomic Research Center in Limeil-Brévannes between 1965 and 1966. Charis Voyatzis passed away in Paris on April 22, 1981. The recognition of his total contribution was sealed in 1989 with the organization of a major retrospective exhibition by the National Gallery in Athens, which presented his oeuvre to the wider public.
This biography was created with the assistance of AI.