The Greco-Italian war in art

From the autumn of 1940 to the summer of 1941, the Greek State was called upon to face a threat that put at risk its very existence.

In October 1940 the assault of Fascist Italy was ante portas, with the Greek government taking the decision to resist rather than to submit. Τhe Italians sent an ultimatum to the Greek authorities asking for a secure passage in order the Italian troops to occupy strategic positions in Greece, following the tactical operations of the war that had broken out a year before in Europe. The Greek response was negative.

Now we will prove whether we are worthy of our ancestors and of the freedom that our forefathers gave us. Let the whole Nation rise together, fight for the Fatherland, your wives, your children, and our sacred traditions.

Now the struggle is for All

President for the Greek Government Ioannis Metaxas

The long and fierce resistance of the greek army on the Greco-albanian mountains had begun. Italy had already conquered Albania under the protection and support of Nazi Germany with which it had signed a pact of friendship and alliance. The Italian assault against Greece was repelled in two phases with the Greek counter-attack of December 1940 being unexpectedly successful. The Greek forces gradually captured Northern Epirus (Koritsa, Pogradec, Agioi Saranda, Argyrokastro and Heimarra). There was an atmosphere of triumph all over the country due to the victory of the poorly organized army over the Italian war machine.

The whole Greek society eagerly watched and helped in any way possible. On the same day of the declaration of war, a spontaneous student demonstration towards the monument of the Unknown Soldier started from the Propylaia. Then he went down Stadiou Street and proceeded towards the Polytechnic and they headed towards Casa d' Italia. 

The pen of Greek cartoonists, always sharp, supplied the press with scathing caricatures, while painters and sculptors immortalized scenes of the battles. On March 22, 1941, the Central Administration of the National Youth Organization (EON) launched an art exhibition with paintings from the Albanian front by Umbertos Argyrou, Panos Efthymiadis and Haris Papacharalambous at the "Parnassos" Literary Association. 

At Athens School of Fine Arts, student engravers Tassos, Katraki and Grammatopoulos from the workshop of Kefallinos, designed and printed patriotic posters, on the theme of the Greco-Italian war.

The vibe of optimism and hope soon collapsed with the German army invading Greece’s borders on 6 April 1941. In March 1941 the Italian counter-attack was again successfully repulsed, forcing their German allies to take the decision to participate to the attack. After a period of severe resistance (with the most glorious moment being the defense at Rοupel Fort), the Greek forces began to withdraw from Albania, so as not to be surrounded by the advancing German forces. 

However, the political leadership decided to capitulate with the Germans on April 20 and with the Italians three days later forcing the army to surrender. The battles, however, continued in southern Greece until June 1941, when the occupation of Crete was completed after a heroic resistance.

“For the sake of historical truth I must verify that only the Greeks, of all the adversaries who confronted us, fought with bold courage and highest disregard of death. ” (Adolf Hitler's speech to Reichstag on May 4, 1941).

The victory of the Greeks against Fascist Italy is recorded in the collective subconscious as a heroic act of the modern Greek people, as a feat of a small nation and after all as an ideological and moral triumph of freedom over totalitarianism.

In this Thematic Exhibition we will explore this important chapter of modern Greek history via sketches, prints and oil paintings, noticing how art and artists of the time absorbed and reacted to the War.