Page 158 - Maxim_Painting_Monograph

Elder Tikhon, acrylic on canvas, 2021
“Elder Tikhon” retains a subtle hue and a discreet transition from a warm to a cold one. This portrait speaks with its attitude and raised shoulders, with bowed head and face, above the strong shoulders, of an ascetic who is a brave hero of Christian asceticism. He wears a monk’s hat and has a strong face, with neat hair and a beard, and is adorned by the unity of the individual elements. The head, face, chin, and raised shoulders are adorned by the harmony of the drawing. — Stamatis Skliris
Dostoyevsky at Night, acrylic on canvas, 2021
The picture “Dostoevsky in the Night” shows that even the Moon participates in people’s suffering. What we said that everything slides towards nothingness is appropriate here. The picture also presents a meteorological theme. Here, the Moon, as the celestial sphere of a celestial body, leads us to imagine where we see the Earth as a larger sphere and the Moon as a smaller one. On that canvas, Dostoevsky seems like someone who is slipping, as if he has momentarily lost the feeling of the Earth’s weight and is about to fall. But in this picture, Dostoevsky is not agitated. The gentle painter managed to show one light, otherworldly and sanctifying, on the forehead, on the arches above the eyebrows, and the cheeks. It’s as if the hero found himself at a dead end, and after the sweat of that unredeemed moment, he transcends it and contemplates it. Those eyes seem to philosophize on why life, beauty, and joy are mixed with pain and suffering. The gentle painter with the gentleness of the heart finally sweetens that view and makes it truly unique. — Stamatis Skliris
158