Trapeza, Aigialeia, c. 1905-1910
He studied in Italy and was particularly influenced by the painting of G. Segantini. He was a very prolific artist and focused primarily on themes related to the open countryside of Greece.
He developed an individual style based on the richness of colours used and a perception of the decorative nature of landscape.
An extremely prolific painter who for more than 70 years painted views of the landscape of Greece and subjects from rural life, Epameinondas Thomopoulos left behind him a rich oeuvre which belongs among the extrapolations of Impressionism, and particularly of Italian Pointillism. He became acquainted with the latter during the course of his studies at the famous School of Naples, but also in Rome and Venice, after which he created his own personal manner, with a marked decorative element.
Trapeza, Aigialeia must have been painted in the early years after his return from Italy in 1903, when he settled at Diakofto, Aigialeia, in order to paint in the open air, as he believed that it was only in this way that he could capture the abundant Greek light. However, within the context of the thinking of the early twentieth century on 'Greekness' and national self-awareness, and in the belief that painting should not be confined to the depiction of the Greek landscape, but should at the same time be a hymn to Greek life, Thomopoulos enriched his landscapes with picturesque idyllic scenes from the life of the farming community. It was for this reason that he was described by the critics of his time as the 'Greek painter par excellence'.
