Yannis Moralis

Yiannis Moralis (; also transliterated Yannis Moralis or Giannis Moralis; 23 April 1916 – 20 December 2009) was an important Greek visual artist and part of the so-called "Generation of the '30s". He is a person who carried weight in many fields and found himself to be equally au courant. Furthermore, he exhibited a strong sense of responsibility when it came to confronting modern day problems. His art is distinct for the esoteric nature of its forms and its capacity and ability to suggest space. Biography Yiannis Moralis was born on the 23rd of April 1916 in Arta, Greece, the second of four children, the rest being Olga, Theodora and Yiorgos. Six years later in 1922, his family moved to Preveza, where Moralis's father, Konstadinos Moralis was appointed headmaster of the local Gymnasium there and five years following that [ in 1927] they settled in Athens. By that time, Yiannis had already decided that he was going to be a painter, and so, along with his regular schooling, he attended Sunday classes at the Athens School of Fine Arts with his father. Not long after turning 15 years old in 1931, he studied under painter Yiannis Yeorgopoulos and later his brother-in-law to prepare for the Athens School of Fine Arts entrance examination, where he passed and enrolled in the Preparatory Class under painter Dimitris Yeraniotis, where, soon afterwards, he was admitted to the studio of Umvertos Argyros. The coming year [in 1932], he took part in the Athens School of Fine Arts Students Exhibition where there was enthusiastic critical notice over his work. In 1933 he began attending afternoon classes at the recently-opened engraving workshop of Yiannis Kephallinos which was also attended by other students. Not long After in 1936 he graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts and throughout his entire time there, he had been noted for his dedication and industry and was at the receiving end of a plethora of awards and commendations. Later that year he took part in the Exhibition of Greek Engraving in Czechoslovakia, where his wood engravings attracted a considerable amount of attention. He ended up winning the competition for a scholarship awarded to him by the Academy of Athens (modern) from the Ourania konstadinidou legacy, for studying mosaic out of state.