by DEMOSTHENES SOTIROUDIS

Polygnotos Vagis was one of the most important sculptors of the Greek diaspora, who managed through his own dynamism and the originality of his work to make an impression in the United States. At the same time, he is the only Greek of the diaspora whose art remained Greek till the end of his career.

Contributing factors to the formation of his uniqueness were the Greekness of his art and his infallible instinct, which enabled him to acquire his personal style and eventually to be ranked among the great pioneering contemporary sculptors.

As we know, Vagis lived in a country without a long artistic tradition and during a time when several trends and schools of art were making their appearance and becoming accepted in the U.S., there being no prejudice against experimentation. In such an artistic environment one might have expected him to be swept along with the tide and to change his own style, but nothing of the sort happened because he had defined the area of his interests from the very beginning. This emerges from his writing as well: "In my opinion, the Greek artists of today had better look to the Mediterranean and the East, rather than the West, for their inspiration. And instead of borrowing technique and style from recognized teachers of modern art, who have already developed their schools based on this source, they should go directly to the oceanic current itself to inspire a Greek renaissance" (from an article in the Greek-American magazine, Argonaut, 1958).

Certainly, we must not forget that his origins - of which he felt extremely proud - played an equally important role in his development. This is why we see him sign his work not only with his full name, "POLYGNOTOS VAGIS", but also "THE THASIAN".

In attempting to analyse and classify Vagis's work, it is essential to remember what he himself believed about it: "My art owes nothing to anyone, it does not belong to any school". And in reality this is true for his second period of creativity, though not for the first, because it is neither possible nor desirable for an artist to strive to remain uninfluenced by the work of his forebears or his contemporaries; even more so in the case of Polygnotos Vagis, who was so attached to the tradition of Ancient Greece.

Vagis's whole first period can be described as a period of studying and searching. We can watch his progress from Classicism to Impressionism (Rodin - Bourdel) and from Impressionism to Classical Idealism (Maillol), in order to arrive at Archaic Realism at the beginning of his second period.
The first period may be said to start in October 1919 with his enrolment in the New York's Fine Arts Institute, where he studied under the well-known sculptors C. Boulgon and F. Aitken, lasting until about 1930. The most famous and finest works of this period can be characterized according to subject:

Works inspired by ancient Greek mythology and history: no. 97 "Pheidippides", "The last of the three hundred Spartans", no. 96 "Electra", "Astynax", "Andromache and her children", "Aphrodite", "Handball player".

Works inspired by modern Greek history: "Greek soldier", "The Protector", "The Liberator", "The Tragedy of Smyrna".
Symbolic figures and groups: "The universe", "After the Fall", "Prayer", "Prophet Isaiah", "The Apostle Paul", "Man-God", "Dreamer", "Sleep".

Portraits: "Portrait of my grandfather", "Self-portrait", "Hugh O'Donnell", "Dr. Edward L. Keyes", "The tenor", "the writer Kallimachos", "The professor", marble head in relief, and the portraits of women nos. 5, 59, 60, 65, 66.

Birds: nos. 74 & 84 doves and "Eagle".

Most of these works were made of clay and cast in plaster; some were later cast in bronze. The works "Portrait of my grandfather", "A child praying", "Tragedy of Smyrna" and relief head no. 10 were chiselled in marble.
In all the works of the first period Vagis's interest was directed at the particular virtues of the art of sculpture: the rational sense of volume and mass, the play between projecting and hollow spaces, the rhythmic articulation of the planes and spatial patterns, conceptual unity.

In the works inspired by ancient Greek mythology and history or by modern Greek history, the artist's aim was to arrive at a genuine sense and comprehension of the plastic form of classical Greek tradition. His social and artistic ideals were identical to the ideals of the classical period; he aspired, in effect, to the classical ideal of beauty - harmony.

In his first period, the artist, though he had progressed beyond classical prototypes, still went back from time to time to stabilise what he had gained. His "Handball player", no. 98, belongs to the end of the first period. "The movement here, as in Myron's Discus Thrower, is distributed throughout the body. Nevertheless, in contrast to the Discus Thrower, which is a closed composition with compressed power, in the Handball Player the intensity is relaxed, since the figure has thrown the ball and is watching it arrive at its destination" (Haido Koukouli - Chrysanthaki).

In the works inspired by symbolic figures and groups, as well as in the whole series of portraits, we see classical forms grafted onto impressionistic trends; the artist is paying more attention to the impeccably executed details. In these works, especially in the portraits, the realistic mood is enriched by the presence of numerous idealistic elements.

"Portrait of my grandfather" was completed in 1922; that same year it was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and two years later at the National Academy of Design, where it was judged the best portrait in the show. "This is a portrait in bronze where rich impressionistic elements endowed with strong plastic forms combine to create a powerful portrait of an old man, tormented but in no way defeated by life" (Haido Koukouli Chrysanthaki). With this success, Vagis acquired new friends, who helped him financially. Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney paid the rent at his studio on MacDougal Street for the next ten years.

Considered among the best works of this period are "After the Fall" and "The universe". In the former, the compositional and stylistic features are derived from Rodin's "Hand of God". The marble head (no. 98) is reminiscent of the early Mannerist variation on the sleeping muse by Brancusi, while "Aphrodite" betrays influences from the classical idealism of Maillol, and his portraits show borrowings from Bourdel.

A brief analysis of the most characteristic works of the first period helps us to understand that the artist, while passing through the various trends and influences, was striving to differentiate himself from them, not by rejecting the artistic values offered by ancient classical tradition and the work of contemporary sculptors, but assimilating them in order to arrive at his own personal style. Thus we see that he succeeded in retaining his deep feeling for classical Greek tradition throughout his work, preserving the balance between what he had to say and his means of expression.

His instinctual effort to find symbols to express his feelings - which are the feelings of all humanity - led him to adopt certain symbols. At that time the artists who were taking part in the artistic revolution of the 20th century were borrowing symbols from other cultures. The quest for these symbols in ancient Greek mythology and history - which could be used if adapted to the contemporary sensibility - vindicated Vagis: the style of his mature period, which is founded on symbolic works, endows them with a sense of security, permanence, vitality and immediate aesthetic enjoyment.

The great Italian painter, Giorgio di Chirico, rightly thought him among the most inspiring creative artists of our times, because: "The mystery that exists in the symbols of ancient Greece and its whole lyrical quality are what inspires Vagis the artist. His Cyclops, one-eyed, depicts precisely that spirit, as do the sacred owls, whose eyes hold all the mystery of a summer night at the foot of the Acropolis. Sculptor and poet, Vagis reaches us as one of the most absolutely inspiring creative artists of our times" (1937).

The efforts of the first period led the artist steadily to the need for renewal. His turn toward ancient art covered this need, which is expressed in the first works of the second period, such as "Circle" and "Cyclops".
In "Circle", which had stood out at Vagis's one-man show at the Brooklyn Museum in 1932, "The figures are ancient in style and their lyrical rendering exudes calm, spirituality and that whole mysterious bond that unites the family, that primary cell of human cohabitation" (Dimitris Papastamos). These works were created in his New York studio, where he worked until about 1933. The other sculptures of these years, "Aviation", "Union", and "Athlete", still retain elements from the first period with slight variations.

Complete renewal came with his moving to Bethpage, Long Island, where he spent his most creative and happiest days. Here he was given the possibility not only of working his ideas directly into the stone through the technique of direct carving, but he was able to use materials scorned up to then, such as cement and wood:
Working in stone, he discovered what Brancusi was talking about:
"When you carve the stone, then you uncover the spirit of your material, and its special attributes. Your hand thinks and follows the thoughts of the material." It is in these special attributes that the largest and best pieces of the second period are founded. Vagis's interest began to turn more and more to monumentality, substituting all those carefully worked details of the first period with the quality of the whole. The clearly sculptural values - mass and surface intensity - remained constant.
With the deep familiarity with the laws and structures of the materials he acquired, Vagis started to select his materials according to their con- tent; this is why we discern a difference in form of decisive significance in the works created in clay or cement as opposed to those carved in stone, marble or wood. In the works carved from crystalline granite this distinction is still more intense.

The pieces made of clay or cast in bronze, "Day", "Cyclops", or in cast stone "Seated woman", "Portrait of a woman", "Sylvia", "Relief of Poseidon", "Nereid", and "Mask" retain an ancient look about them and the clear, simple volumes with the well-set-up planes create intense contours which bestow enormous expressive power on the sculptures.

The works carved in stone or marble, "Andromache", "Dawn", "Relief of a bird", "Leon and Leaina" (relief), "Family stele (relief)", "Nude woman standing", "Rooster", and those carved from cast stone "Nude woman standing" and "Women with children", acquire greater compositional solidity and strength. The quality of the whole is achieved through formalization and reduction of detail; the outlines and expressive power of the composition are heightened.

"Andromache" shows the influence of certain primitivistic elements, while "Women with children" reflects the study of Pre-Columbian art. In "Karyatid" the exotic character of his works is evident, while "Owl" retains realistic elements.

In all the work of the second period, Vagis is moving towards reduction to arrive at simplicity and clarity, without losing compositional complexity, and without passing into abstraction; he never departs from the limits of organic vitality. Instead he attempts to penetrate into reality - to express the meaning of life through the human figure, animals, birds and fish, which embody the ideals of vitality.
His turn towards the search for universal shapes which are significant for man eventually led him to the complete mastery of those ideals, of simplicity and clarity in other words.
On Long Island there is a buried treasure of such universal shapes in crystalline granite. Vagis used these shapes in fitting his symbols to the modern sensibility. He would select the ones that matched the interest in shape which he had in mind at that moment and that would back up his work as a sculptor in forms suggested by them, harmonizing form and content perfectly. This is why he used to say: "My sculpture 'is spontaneous. I don't make preparatory drawings for any of the works that I carve directly or for those using any other technique. I feel that I am freeing the stone, I am not subduing it."

To his magnificently executed heads, no. 7, no. 16 "Morning", no. 18, no. 19, "Revelation", no. 20, "Sleep", no 30 and no. 32, he gave symbolic titles, because of the mystery and symbolism diffused under the semi- worked surfaces. The formalized moons (no. 25), the colour being added in "Full moon" (no. 26), depict the mystery of a summer's night. The "Eagles" (nos. 35, 83, 85), birds sacred to the ancient Greeks and symbols of power in Rome and Byzantium, are here symbols also of the freedom and valour of the modern Greeks.

The fish (nos. 79, 80, 81, 82) in granite, ready-crafted from nature itself, with only their basic features carved, are symbols of life, fertility, and happiness in early religions.
In the scales of the famous snake in the Museum of Modern Art in New York "nature truly grows quiet in the stone, creating such a density that the lustre of the skin invites the infinite to absorb it" (Parker Tyler).
The monumental works also have their origin in this same world of symbols: no. "Bear with infant" and "Cosmos", as well as a series of smaller pieces, such as "Karyatid" in petrified wood, "Nymph", no. 34 in quartz, nos. 22, 23 and 27 in alabaster; nos. 33, 48, 49, 52, 53 in coloured pebbles; no. 52 in cast stone, together with the miniature heads in polished natural pebbles nos. 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44. All the above pieces are the result of Vagis's search for natural universal shapes, which led him to full maturity and raised him to the first rank of sculptors pioneering in modern art.

Vagis's simple, clear, imaginative forms stem from what the artist himself used to say: "I feel that I am freeing the stone, I am not subduing it"; in other words, the intervention into the stone happens only at the points where it is needed in order to hint at the shape.
This identification with his material was often remarked upon by art critics: "... deeply innate - almost primitive - identification with the material. This characteristic is particularly evident in the works in stone, where the weight, the volumes and the texture of the material lead the sculptor to his quest for the subjective logic of his forms" (G.T.M., Art News, 1955). "... These works are elemental, provocative allusions to forms, only some of which detach themselves from the solid rock that surrounds them. Avoiding in each step any trace of mannerism or the easy solution, Vagis achieves a result that is full of power" (E.G.M., Art News, 1956). "... easy mastery of his material and deceptive simplicity in his shapes" (Robert Coates, New Yorker, 1957).

In his mature work, Vagis is not striving for the classical ideal of beauty, but rather for the alternate ideal of vitality, of the fusion of form and sensation. Despite the presence of certain primitivistic elements of Pre-Columbian and Central African civilizations, his work nevertheless remains Greek, distinguished by its economy, sense of measure, wisdom and expressive form, monumentality and deep spirituality. This mysterious life, which his figures and compositions possess, springs from the Greek mythic source. The astonished, inward and fixed gaze of his heads reminds us of the look of divinity of the ancient sculptor.

The authoritative Dictionary of Modern Art in America writes: "From Greece he brought and preserved the sense of true form and of measure, the deep love of poetry, always in balance, full of the mystery and charm that distinguish his distant forebears... His sculptures in stone or wood are always an omnipotent revelation of the human Being in whatever may have monumental form."
While Vagis managed not only to impress but also to exercise an important influence on artistic circles in America, winning a number of awards, his name nevertheless did not become more widely known be- cause he himself preferred solitude and simplicity to the social life led by some of his contemporaries.
When the great museums of the United States and other countries offered him their rooms to house his sculptures, he rejected them, and despite the fact that even he himself knew that this could damage his reputation, he still preferred to donate his work to Greece.

The creation of the POLYGNOTOS VAGIS MUSEUM in his birthplace, an obligation of the state not fulfilled until 1981, was made possible by the Potamia Commune's grant of the old primary school and funding by the Department for Greeks Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The publication of this catalogue of the works displayed in this museum is another debt now cancelled. The restitution of his work to its proper place in modern sculpture is the duty of the art historians.

DEMOSTHENES SOTIROUDIS
Sculptor
Keeper of the
POLYGNOTOS VAGIS MUSEUM

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