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Portrait sur fond noir
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Portrait d´un ami
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Scarecrow
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Born 1921 in London of Greek parents from Smyrna.
Painter
Education
A neighbor recognizing the boy's talent for drawing in 1935 and undertakes the expenses of his studies at the Athens Academy of Fine Art which he attends for a brief period, he is influenced by Greek and, most particularly, Byzantine art.
Biography
In 1941 he begins four years of active service in the Royal Air Force two years of which in air-sea rescue missions over the Indian Ocean for victims of the war and cyclones. After demobilization, he subsequently devotes his time to painting, while also discovering modern and contemporary art during visits to the principal museums of London.
In 1949 Christoforou gets his first solo show in London at the Twenty Brook Street Gallery. He settles in the working class district of Shepherds Bush, where he embarks on a period of intense activity. Due to the figurative elements and expressionist content in his painting from the very beginning, Christoforou stands as an outsider in the art world of the time.
With the return of figuration in painting, at the beginning of the 1960's, Christoforou is recognized as one of the forerunners of the movement known as "New Figuration". This important period of transition between the abstract art of the 1950's and the figuration appearing in the early 1960's, is often overlooked in books of art history. He receives the award of the International Critics Association (ICA), London, and have numerous exhibitions follow in Sweden, Belgium, and Holland, and in 1966, Galerie Birch presents Christoforou´s first one-man exhibition in Denmark and with huge success which leads to more in 72-76-80-99-2008
In 1990 Christoforou acquires French nationality.
John Christoforou have had many exhibitions all over Europe and is represented in many countries museums.
Selected exhibitions
The Musee Galliera in Paris
FIAC
Musee d Art Contemporain of Dunkirk
Emfietzoglou Foundation in Athens, Greece
Athens Gallery
Centre des Arts Plastiques Alert Chanot
Art Fair of Strasbourg
Musée des Beaux Arts
Email request to Galerie Birch on current artworks for sale
