Satyr, 1925

Thomas Thomopoulos was a pioneering figure in the Greek sculpture of the early twentieth century. His comprehensive training was set in motion when he studied painting under Nikiphoros Lytras and sculpture with the great teacher of classicism Georgios Vroutos at the School of Arts (1891 - 1897). With a state scholarship he continued his studies at the Fine Arts Academy in Munich (1898 - 1900) and travelled to Florence, Rome, and Naples to study Italian sculpture.
On his return to Athens (1900), he embarked upon an active and dynamic career in the artistic life of Greece, producing sculptures, statues, funerary monuments, and allegorical scenes, and by contributing to Pinakotheke. In 1911 he was elected professor at the School of Fine Arts, where he taught until his death. The sculpture of Thomopoulos is marked by its transition from the models of classicism to a more impressionistic manner, but he always possessed the ability to oscillate between the two trends, as can be seen from the two works in the Evangelos Averoff Gallery.