Spiros Xenos

About the Painting

This still life oil painting, created around 1950, portrays a table adorned with fruit, books, and pottery. The composition demonstrates Xenos's mature approach to still life painting, combining careful observation of everyday objects with a modernist sensibility toward color and form. The arrangement of objects creates a balanced composition that reflects both classical still life traditions and mid-20th century aesthetic concerns.

The painting exemplifies Xenos's ability to find beauty in domestic subjects, transforming ordinary objects into subjects worthy of contemplation. His treatment of light, texture, and spatial relationships shows the influence of his academic training at the Athens School of Fine Arts and his exposure to European modernism during his years in Munich and Paris.

Signed in the lower right corner, this oil on canvas remains in very good condition and is housed in its original frame. The work comes with Swedish provenance and represents Xenos's mature period as an established artist in Gothenburg.

About the Artist

Spiros George Xenos (1881-1963) was a Greek-Swedish artist known for his landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. Born on June 11, 1881, in Athens, Greece, Xenos studied for six years at the Athens School of Fine Arts before leaving Greece in 1903. With the help of a scholarship, he continued his education in Munich, Germany, where he was exposed to contemporary European art movements.

Xenos subsequently moved to Paris, where he opened a studio and established himself within artistic circles. In Paris, he met his first wife, Elin von Reis (1874-1926), whom he married in 1911. In 1913, the couple traveled to Sweden for what was intended as a short visit, but the outbreak of World War I led them to settle there permanently.

In Sweden, Xenos found inspiration in the landscape of the west coast, particularly around Gothenburg, where he eventually made his home. While he became known for his coastal landscapes, he also maintained an active practice in portraiture and still life painting throughout his career. His work bridges Greek academic traditions with Swedish landscape sensibilities and European modernist influences.

Xenos's paintings are held in several important collections, including Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, the University of Gothenburg (School of Business, Economics and Law), and the National Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum in Athens. His presence in both Swedish and Greek institutional collections reflects his dual cultural identity and his contributions to both artistic traditions.

Spiros Xenos died on January 21, 1963, in Gothenburg, Sweden, leaving behind a body of work that documents his journey from Athens to Sweden and his synthesis of Greek and Scandinavian artistic traditions.

Technical Details

Artist: Spiros Xenos (1881-1963)
Signed: Lower right corner
Date: c.1950
Medium: Oil on canvas
Condition: Very good condition
Dimensions: 39 x 50 cm / 15¼ x 19¾ in
Frame: 47 x 58 cm / 18½ x 22¾ in, very good condition
Origin: Sweden

A mid-century still life by a Greek-Swedish artist trained in Athens and Munich.