Tassos

“When I began my studies and gained some in-depth knowledge, I noticed what is particularly appealing in engraving as well as its true potential as an art that is addressed to great masses. That was something that also fulfilled my ideological views and I came to realize that in my mind I had come to a balance between my social perceptions and my aesthetic concerns.” (A. Tassos from the documentary MONOGRAMMA by Giorgos and Iro Sgouraki, Part 2, ERT AE, 1985).

Anastasios Alevizos (25 March 1914 – 13 October 1985), known as Tassos, was a renowned Greek engraver.

As a student in the School of High Arts in Athens he was an apprentice in the workshops of great painters and sculptors such as Thomas Thomopoulos, Oumvertos Argyros and Konstantinos Parthenis. He also attended the engraving classes in Kefallinos’ workshop. Finally, he dedicated himself to the art of engravement; incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface to create a mold for printing multiple original works, allowing thus the practice of engraving to be the most accessible art form. 

During the Greco–Italian War, Tassos and other students of Kefallinos, created propaganda leaflets for the encouragement of the Greek nation. After the liberation, he took on other subjects besides the war and the resistance, such as nudes, still life and portraits, while at the same time he started applying colour on his wood engravings.

Much of his work evolves around books and graphic arts. He collaborated with the Greek Publishing Organization of Educational Books (Greek: ΟΕΔΒ) and designed stamps for the Hellenic Post and for the Republic of Cyprus.

Since the 1960s, he focused on the depiction of human figures. At the same time, he worked on icons and book illustrations.

Tassos was a militant artist and his work is defined by technical skill in combination with an emotional expression of ordinary people through their toil and pain. He was affected by the byzantine art, while gradually giving up on colour and working on the contrast between black and white. He started carving bigger wooden panels and creating monumental themes. 

Before his death he donated 150 of his woodcuts to the National Gallery.