11:45: I put all six anschutz from above paintings on my east wall and noticed that the most recent one: anschutz from above 6, seemed incomplete. so I did some more work on it. BELOW: the before & after. current version on the right.
o kyrios yannis (mr. yannis) watercolor on paper, ca. 1972
6:15 AM: this early ‘70’s watercolor may be the earliest example of my lifelong passion for views from above. it was painted in the early’70’s in my studio, which was at the time beneath the acropolis on the edge of the plaka neighborhood of athens, overlooking the roman era tower of the winds. o kyrios yannis as we knew him, was an elderly man with a pet cat, which you see curled up in the chair next to him. his self appointed job was to park cars. he would park my vauxhall viva every morning when i arrived at my studio. if i leaned out my window, i could see him from above, sitting in his favorite chair.
so this was part of my interest in everyday life in athens that formed the basis of the series of drawings and paintings i made at the time. another very important part was played by the construction workers, who were building something diagonally across from my studio. they would come and pose for drawings and paintings regularly, as would kyriakos, the street sweeper who would become my main model during that period.
i’ll post more pics related to this period later in the day, but i’m starting with this seminal watercolor, which is in mikela’s office space in our house.