Gymni Optasia – Maria Tsikalaki

This artwork comes from the private collection of an individual collector. It is framed and ready for display.

Proceeds from its sale will be donated to charity.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Maria Tsikalaki was born in Athens, and her engagement with painting and her love for it began in her preschool years.

Her first free studies in the workshop of Theodoros Drosos, combined with her final two years of high school, led her to take painting seriously as a pursuit.

Holding as ideals Classical art, the great masters of the Renaissance, and those of the Flemish School, she began searching for the method—or rather, the teacher—who could initiate her into the secrets of these great creators.

She eventually found such a mentor, and the months she worked alongside him opened new horizons in her artistic journey.

Seeking to advance further, she attended painting seminars in the United States at the California College of the Arts.

Her next step involved spending countless hours in some of the world’s greatest art galleries, attempting—armed with her growing knowledge—to decode the methods of the great masters and uncover their secrets.

She draws vision and inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci, Giovanni Bellini, Paolo Veronese, and Giambattista Tiepolo, whom she considers the supreme master of symbolism.

Her favorite artwork is “The Triumph of Venice”.