PROFILES IN ART


George Pol Georgiou  

George Pol Georgiou was born on the 22nd September 1901 in Famagusta, Cyprus. He was educated at the Pancyprian Gymnasium, Nicosia. On the death of his father, when he was 17, he was sent to study law at Middle Temple, London and returned after 13 years to take his place in his father’s cotton business and look after his shipping agencies and other enterprises. His education in Western Europe had been extensive and various. By 40 he had given up all other work and was a full time, self-taught painter, working with oils on wood. He had a short working life of only 25 years but that time covered Second World War, the Establishment of the State of Israel, the E.O.K.A. uprising which led to the end of empire in Cyprus and the emergence of an independent state. He married Trude Richly from Vienna, but had no children. In 1964 he laid down his brushes and he died on 2nd August, 1972.

His paintings hang in major galleries around the world (in England, Israel, Greece and Cyprus) and in important private collections in Paris, Munich, Italy, Athens and Canada.

His studio and paintings are trapped in occupied Famagusta and have not been seen since 1974.

The Hellenic Centre at 16-18 Paddington Street, London hosted between 29 May to 27 June 1999 the paintings of the Cypriot artist George Pol Georgiou. The event, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Cyprus and the A.G.Leventis Foundation, has attracted many visitors.


 

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One of Georgiou paintings