"At the Airport ...", 1984
By Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990)
Ink on cigarette box, 7Χ9 cm.
Inv. No.: P-210

Born at Monemvasia (Peloponnese), Yannis Ritsos was a leading poet and writer, honored with the Lenin Prize for Peace (1977).  He was self taught in painting.  He presented his paintings in a solo exhibition in Athens (1989).  His pictorial work is almost unknown and was a complement to his poetic work and a respite during the easy and difficult moments of his life.  The totality of his work was done on cheap material, like cane roots, stones and cigarette boxes.  The painting of the poet of "Romiossini" [Greekness] emits exactly that Greekness which characterizes the totality of his work.  Yannis Ritsos passed away in Athens (1990).

P.D.Cangelaris, Reflections upon Greek Contemporary Painting, The Cangelaris Collection, vol.3, Athens 2015