Greek orthodox church in Utrecht gets murals. A new style in icon painting.

Jan Verdonk and Dimitris Giannakos

One learned it mostly in practice, as a student of Fotis Kontoglou, the great icon painter who brought Byzantine icon painting back to Greece. The other is an ordinary painter who has worked as a University teacher in America. Together they are working in Utrecht on murals in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Is this unique combination developing a new style in neo-Byzantine painting? A conversation about the secrets of the trade.

It is Wednesday afternoon. The two artists hang in the tall scaffolding like true construction workers. We had to wait at least three quarters of an hour for them to speak to us. The last apostles still had to be finished. They worked on it for seven months, with a few interruptions. 'We felt like ascetics here,' complains Nikos, 'far from home, with no contacts in the immediate area and working more than 18 hours a day to finish the job on time. The colored walls literally came down on us.'

Apprentice of Kóntoglou

Nikos Pappas (55) learned icon painting in Thessaloniki. There was then what was called “the Russian school,” where Russian monks taught, with an emphasis on anatomy and sketching. 'The school produced ships full of icons for Russia,' Nikos recalls. The style was realistic, as had been common in Greek icon painting since the 19th century.

After his education, Nikos went to work as an apprentice with Fotis Kóntoglou, who reformed Greek icon painting. The latter taught at the Athens Academy of Art and developed the neo-Byzantine style, mainly harking back to the Cretan style (1400-1600) that he had studied on Athos, the Holy Mountain. Here Nikos learned techniques and materials while working, for in addition to icons, Kóntoglou painted murals in several churches in Athens, such as Saint Loukás in Patísia and Saint Panteleímon on the Odós Acharnón.

After five years with Kontoglou, Nikos went to Corfu, where he received commissions for monasteries and churches, including restoration work.

Learning from the master

A very different Odyssey formed the life of Alekos Kapsokavadis (54). After studying at the Academy of Art in Corfu, he left for the West Coast of the United States at the age of 23. He stayed there for 16 years. He studied social sciences and Fine Arts at Palomar College in California. After his postgraduate studies, he worked as a lecturer at several Universities in the United States and participated in many exhibitions as a visual artist.

From '85 to '92, he commuted between America and Greece, finally returning permanently to his native Corfu in '92.

The style of his art is that of surrealism: a sober registration of his dreamscapes, which he sensitively captures in their inexplicable richness. He works as a visual artist, but Nikos is his teacher in Byzantine painting when they do a commission together. Watching them work together, the relationships are visible: the master and the student.

The scenes

Inside the church on Springweg. Nothing recalls the former gymnasium, you are overwhelmed by the huge murals. The main scenes we see are: the Mother of God “Platytera,” the Resurrection, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Nativity of Mary, the Nativity of the Lord, the Baptism in the Jordan, the Crucifixion, the Presentation in the Temple, Pentecost, Assumption of Mary, the Ascension of Christ, Mary's Message and the Mother of God “Vrefokratousa. In a lower register, below the scenes, the twelve apostles are depicted.

They are the most important representations to be found in an Orthodox church. The patrons did not want the ascetic and severe Cretan style that was already present behind the iconostasis, so Alekos and Nikos, with their Mediterranean radiant colors, were more than welcome. “We actually only use a small number of vibrant colors,” Alekos says, ”but we make sure they harmonize with each other.”

A closer look reveals that the color white is lavishly applied to many clothes and body parts as a point of light. The artists explain: 'On the one hand, this was done because the painting will still darken a bit; on the other hand, it is based on a philosophy of light. Byzantine art, as a spiritual art, has an internal illumination, shining a light from within, a symbolic light'.

Modern painting in a Byzantine guise

We see the familiar representations around us, but what draws attention are the faces. Sometimes they are agonized, then again exalted, elated, devout, always intense, as if a naive painter had clumsily wrestled with the brush here to give the face that expression. The same can be discerned in the figures, which kneel, worship, cry and lament. It is desperate and decisively portrayed. It reminded us of the intense way Alekos looks at his dream images in his visual art. In this church, we become spectators of the biblical scenes in the same strong way, depicting the gospel. The scenes thus become loaded with content, they also really bring the gospel to the viewers, who suddenly realize that this is what is supposed to happen in a church building. “How should I describe the style? Both of us have experience in realism and neoclassicism. This has culminated in a new style of Byzantine painting, which, time will tell, will survive as the Nikos-Alekos style. Copying is easy. But you have to find your own style, developed from your experience and your knowledge, and stay within the Byzantine style,” Alekos analyzes.

'How was painting done? How do such forms emerge?

Nikos: 'In school, I only did anatomy sketches for a year and a half. Then I gained more experience in practice. So now I no longer work by the book. I now draw the main lines from memory first, and the next one I measure out according to the anatomical rules.'

Alekos: 'Without putting effort into it, we could have done it perfectly, anatomically speaking. It's a matter of emphasis. Expression is attention, is emphasis. You give emphasis where you want. We see this as our contribution. Clumsy is not the right word. Modern painting has made things whose proportions were not right. And yet they are masterpieces.'

How does a composition come about?

Alekos: “Nikos is the teacher and I bring in my experience. We make copies of the same representations and you work out your own ideas and you fit everything together, creating one mixture, a synthesis. Nikos often paints from memory.” About the substrate, Nikos says, “We check the walls very carefully. There will have to be a suitable undercoat on the wall, so there is plastering.”

The paint is a water-thinnable tempera paint that the painters make themselves from pigment (color powder), glue from a jar and an additional substance that makes the paint adhere better and that they keep secret. Then the composition is set up in lines. Then the base colors are applied in large areas, into which lines, details and other colors are later put.

In working together, the roles are clear. Alekos helps most with the preliminary drawing, although they both have ideas. He also contributes the ground colors. Sometimes Nikos lets him create the colors; he does indicate the limits, so it doesn't get too light, for example. “I can do it on my own, too.”

The difference

Can you draw a comparison between your art and the work that was already present above the altar?

Nikos: 'We cannot compare our work with something that is essentially not a mural. That was painted on linen canvas in Athens and later applied to the wall here. An infinitely cheaper method than ours. Furthermore, the synthetic paint used in those icons poses no technical problem for the painter. Anyway, there is kinship because of common descent. Not that they were pupils of Kóntoglou, but since the 1960s everyone has been working in the Byzantine style, which Kóntoglou brought back to Greece. We have not let ourselves be influenced by them, because we never do. We have our own style.'

Is synthetic paint common in churches in Greece?

Nikos: “It happens a lot. I too have done it,” he confesses, “and it is kept secret, it is not talked about, they don't want it. Also on the part of the clients. Sometimes they don't pay enough, other times there is no money.”

The job is over and Nikos and Alekos leave for Greece on Friday.

Are there any more assignments?

Alekos has received an assignment from the High School of Crete in Chaniá to set up a faculty for the Arts. He expects to take three years to do so. He will try to utilize Nikos' experience and knowledge. Nikos will resume his regular work. Besides being an icon painter, he is also a framer, and in this profession his knowledge of materials comes in handy. He runs his own business, which he has neglected in recent months. And he hopes to get another big commission to practice his real trade. He would also like to work with Alekos to paint the ceiling of this church on Springweg, but for now he is not getting a commission for that.