REVIEWS of fani floca spyratou
FOREIGN PRESS:
For her participation in the Salon des Independants
Paris Gazette: Nouvelles Litteraires - Date May 2, 1968
The art critic writes: Maximilien Gauthier
"Floka Spyratou is not at all unknown to Parisian art lovers because of her
last year's exhibition at Galerie Andre-Weil attracted attention to paintings full of emotions, intense colors but at the same time refined.
The natural subtlety of this Athena refines themes that can rarely be expressed with such force.
Still lifes, flowers next to mother-of-pearl and objects of value lead us to an exciting world where sin has not yet destroyed beauty and we think we are rediscovering our lost childhood fantasy worlds. Because Fani Floka Spyratou is endowed with rich inspiration and has not been influenced by temporary modern trends, nor by snobbery.
She is locked in a world outside of place and time where she found within herself, the real language of truth that she knew to be the joy of the eyes.
Her original composition (woman's dream) exhibited at the Salon des Independants fascinates because the artist refuses to use false conveniences to highlight her work.
Her participation in the Salon was very successful. It attracted the attention of the most obdurate techno-critics, who were not fooled by the simple subject and were able to discern treasures of sensitivity in its depth."
The Salon des Independants is rendered in Greek as the Salon of the Independents.
It has prevailed with its abbreviated title above, over its official counterpart, with which it is called in its statutes as Societe des Artistes Independants, that is, Society of Independent Artists. Its purpose is to bring to the fore the works of those artists who follow a certain independence (hence the term "Independents" in its title) when creating their works.
The Salon des Independants link above is an evolution of the pure "Salon", an institution established by King Louis XIV. But the choices of the participating artists in this original "Salon" were made arbitrarily and only by the responsible with a complete lack of meritocracy Monarchical environment. The same situation continued in this organization during the periods of the "First" as well as the "Second Empire" until the period of the so-called "Third Republic" (Troisième République). 1880 was a decisive year for the discrediting of this ancient Salon, because it rejected the participation of all Impressionists and Post-Impressionists who had expressed their desire to participate in this exhibition.
As a consequence of the above situation, the establishment and organization in 1884 of the now newest Salon des Independants (Salon of the Independents), with its founders a group of artists consisting of Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissarro, Georges Seurat, Odilon Redon and Albert Dubois-Pillet', while in 1905 comes the turn of Henri Matisse's participation in this Salon.
This newest "Salon" is held every Spring and has as its special feature, as categorically defined in article No.1 of its statute, "the absence of any approval committee of the participants, in order for it to be possible for the artists to present the works them to the judgment of the public alone and with the status of absolute freedom". Consequently, because it is defined that this general public is also the supreme judge of the works exhibited in it, the "Salon" has institutionalized the absence of any awarding of prizes coming from a committee.
For her exhibition at the Galerie Andre-Weil, in Paris (26, avenue Matignon) February 3-16, 1967, the following critics are mentioned:
The critic Maximilien Gauthier in Nouvelles Litteraires of 9-2-1967 writes:
In the above-mentioned Gallery "The flowers of Attica" stand out especially for their simplicity, peaceful pieces, impressively balanced
In the newspaper La Revue Moderne - May 1, 1967 issue
the art critic: Pierre Mornand writes:
"Mrs. Fani Spyratou Floka, the Greek painter who exhibits at the André-Veig gallery, with her numerous works reminiscent of the great masters such as the French and Flemish painters of the 16th century, presents her flowers in endless variations with their eternal beauty. Reducing any exaggeration, the painter dedicates herself to express the soul of the flower in the simplest way. In this simplicity she manifests her talent with charming forms, color harmonies, plays of light. Sometimes bouquets in faint and delicate colors harmoniously tied together and sometimes bouquets in full bloom and lively in all their splendor.
She also paints cleverly composed still lifes. Everything always executed with the utmost care"
