Artistic Journey
I am Greek, from the island of Chios. After secondary school I went to London and attended the Royal Academy.
The following year I arrived in Paris and was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts.
In parallel, to perfect my drawing, I attended courses at various Parisian academies and took part in salons.
In 1976 I held a solo exhibition at Galerie Alexander in Paris, after which the Union Latine publishing house entrusted me with illustrating a major bibliophile work: “La Danse Macabre”.
This is truly the only commercial concession I accepted.
Since then I have worked in my studio, without constraint, away from artistic currents dictated by the industrial and urban aesthetics that dominate the contemporary scene.
The Painter I Am
Alone against all in an age of general derision.
Spiritualist – unrealistic figurative. A spiritualist without religious reference. I elaborate forms through several stages of drawing, moving away from realistic appearances — a domain occupied by photography.
Rigor and freedom — Rigor in preparatory studies, figures, hands, proportions, construction, rhythm, composition, etc.
I develop my imagination and visual memory to execute my paintings.
After a carefully studied layout and construction, I paint freely, spontaneously and swiftly, observing the double aspect of each form — warm/cold suggesting depth — all hierarchized and subordinated to the whole. I do not work for a fleeting glance.
Rhigas on Wikipedia
Biographie
Georges Despotopoulos, known as Rhigas, was born into an artistic environment. Born on 18 December 1928 in Hanover to Greek parents, he is the son of Ioannis Despotopoulos, an architect from Chios. Nurtured by the contemplation of icons, he drew from the age of five. He remains deeply attached to his island roots, which give him a strong spirit of independence. He is a cousin of the philosopher Konstantinos Despotopoulos.