PRASSINOS Mario

PRASSINOS Mario

Mario PRASSINOS (1916–1985)

“Portrait-Bouquet,” January 9, 1963

Oil on canvas.

Signed and dated “9 Jan 63” (January 9, 1963).

Artist’s reference: EYG 63.12

An evocative oil on canvas by Mario Prassinos (1916–1985), executed on January 9, 1963, and belonging to one of the most distinctive and recognizable subjects within the artist’s body of work: the celebrated “Portrait-Bouquet”, or portrait in the form of a bouquet of flowers.

In these compositions, Prassinos moved beyond the conventional representation of the human figure, developing a highly personal visual language in which the traditional portrait is transformed into an intricate, almost organic arrangement. Forms suggestive of flowers, vegetation and facial features appear to merge, creating an image that exists somewhere between portraiture, still life and abstraction.

This fascinating ambiguity is central to the power of the composition. From a distance, the Mario PRASSINOS painting presents itself as a dense and mysterious presence; viewed more closely, individual forms, lines and textures begin to emerge. Prassinos invites the viewer to move continuously between recognition and abstraction rather than offering a single, immediately identifiable image.

The work dates from 1963, an important period in Prassinos’s artistic development, when his painting had evolved toward an increasingly personal exploration of memory, identity, nature and the human presence. His sophisticated handling of paint and his complex construction of the pictorial surface give the composition both remarkable depth and a strong graphic quality.

Born in Constantinople in 1916 and later established in France, Mario Prassinos developed an independent artistic vocabulary that resisted simple classification. Throughout his career, he explored painting, drawing, illustration and tapestry, continually investigating the relationship between figurative imagery and abstraction.

Signed and precisely dated January 9, 1963, and recorded under the artist’s reference EYG 63.12, this Portrait-Bouquet represents a particularly characteristic example of Prassinos’s distinctive and immediately recognizable artistic language.

Price : 4,000.00

Materials / Techniques: Oil on Canvas