1940's The Early Years
Nonda studied drawing and painting under Spiros Vikatos, who encouraged him in the classical tradition and praised his particular gift in portraiture. His first works were portraits of his family, bold nudes, as well as landscapes, seascapes. Many of these works survived the destruction of his atelier in Athens during the Second World War. While his temperament was clearly precocious, his early paintings were deeply influenced by his interest in El Greco, Ingres, Delacroix and Frans Hals among others, and showed a great respect for the masters. In 1947 he left Greece on a scholarship to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he studied in the ateliers Narbonne and Le Magny. Once in Paris, Nonda began to develop the image of the archetypal “ Femme Parisenne” (“Parisian Woman”) which was to remain a source of inspiration throughout his life’s work.
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Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“As I went forth early on a still and frosty morning, the trees looked like airy creatures of darkness caught napping; on this side huddled together, with their gray hairs streaming, in a secluded valley which the sun had not penetrated; on that, hurrying off in Indian file along some watercourse, while the shrubs and grasses, like elves and fairies of the night, sought to hide their diminished heads in the snow.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The years go by in single file;
But none has merited my fear,
And none has quite escaped my smile.”
—Elinor Wylie (1885–1928)