Pavlos Samios – Donum Amicorum
“I would like to be remembered through my works. To make those who see them feel something of what I felt when I was painting.”
P. Samios
The exhibition presents the works donated to Megaron the Athens Concert Hall, as well as selected works by the painter and professor of the School of Fine Arts Pavlos Samios (1948-2021) from the collection of Maria Xanthakos, a painting world full of light, memory, eroticism and faith.
Megaron the Athens Concert Hall welcomes with great joy and emotion five works by Pavlos Samios, which the great artist donated. His works will be exhibited in the premises of Megaron, contributing to the dialogue of the arts that we all serve.
Pavlos Samios was always a precious friend of Megaron, a multi-thematic and multi-talented artist, a painter of life, love and music, a poet of everyday life, a great teacher, open and generous, yet passed away early from the life he so praised through his work.
He had, nevertheless, made plans to donate his works to important cultural institutions, an act that is an example, inspiration and legacy for us all. We are grateful to him for this.
His beloved muse and companion in life, Maria Xanthakou, tirelessly supported his work. We sincerely thank her that even now, with love and dedication, she is working on fulfilling Pavlos Samios’ wish.
Biography of Pavlos Samios
(Athens, 28 October 1948 – 4 February 2021)
From a young age he was involved in painting and drawing, as well as helping his father in the family shoe workshop.
He loved religious painting, which won him over from an early age, and worked in the Iconography workshop of Dionysis Karousos until he was eighteen. At the same time, he attended drawing classes at the workshop of Panos Sarafianos and studied at the School of Fine Arts. His teachers were Nikos Nikolaou in the Preliminary and Yannis Moralis in the Painting Workshop. His great teacher was also Yannis Tsarouchis, whom he met in Paris in the 1970s. At the same time, Samios was in the unique company of the Enchanted Circle, where he met Manos Hadjidakis.
From 1978 to 1992 he lived and worked in Paris. In 2000, he was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts, where he headed the Laboratory of Byzantine Art and Traditional Techniques (Byzantine Images, Encaustic, Manuscripts, Frescoes). His tenure ended in 2016. He has painted many small churches with the fresco technique.
He has held 79 solo exhibitions and participated in important group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. In 2014, he held his major retrospective exhibition at the Benaki Museum [Piraeus], entitled Painting Apology, with over 170 works from all periods of his career, while in 2019 he held the emblematic exhibition Broken History at the Byzantine and Christian Museum. His work is in many museums and private collections internationally.
Exhibiton curators: artworx (Maria Xanthakou – Isabella Frances
Painting above: Pavlos Samios, The Game, 1990, 200×190 cm. , oil on canvas, donated to Megaron the Athens Concert Hall
Venia Pastaka (art history consultant)
INFO
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Duration of exhibition: 16 May - 31 October 2025
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Opening hours: daily and weekends 10.00-18.00. On the days when there is a performance in Christos Lambrakis Hall τhe exhibition will remain open until 20.30
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Exhibiton Room at Christos Lambrakis Hall ground level foyer.
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Entrance Free
Pavlos Samios, You have come, 2009-2010, 180x90 cm, acrylic on canvas, donated to Megaron the Athens Concert Hall
Pavlos Samios, I met you, 2009-2010, 180x190 cm, acrylic on canvas, donated to Megaron the Athens Concert Hall
Pavlos Samios, You Left, 2009-2010, 180x90 cm, Acrylic on canvas, Donated to the Athens Concert Hall
