Self Portrait 

Alekos Kontopoulos made this self-portrait with ink on paper. The harsh contrasts and restless lines here suggest the artist's interior state. Kontopoulos lived through turbulent periods in Greek history. Born in 1904, his life spanned two world wars, the Greek Civil War, and the military dictatorship of the late 1960s and early 70s. His work reflects a deep concern with the human condition under duress. As a professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts, Kontopoulos was part of an institution tasked with defining Greek national identity through art. But in his own work, he seems to resist easy definitions, embracing instead a raw and searching aesthetic. Was this the face of a nation? Or of a man struggling within it? To fully appreciate the social dimensions of Kontopoulos's art, scholars consult historical archives, artists' letters, and institutional records. The meaning of art emerges in relation to its context.