Artist’s CV
Artist’s Curriculum Vitae
Kostas Grammatopoulos was born in Athens in September 1916. His parents had moved a few years ago from Istanbul. His father, Panagiotis Grammatopoulos, was an artist cabinetmaker originally from Rysios or Aretsou, a Greek coastal town on the eastern side of the Propontis, 40 km. from Istanbul.
In 1934 he graduated from the Z’ Gymnasium of Pagrati and entered the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he studied painting in the studio of Umbertos Argyros and engraving in the studio of Yannis Kefallinos during the period 1934-1940. Upon graduation, he was awarded the highest distinction of the Gold Award.
In 1940, while still a student, he created some of the most famous patriotic posters on the subject of the Greek-Italian war. These posters include The Heroines of 1940 with the Greek women in Pindos, Come and meet the Greek soldier with a spear, Forward of Greece, Children of Greece, etc. He also created various brochures and propaganda material of the resistance struggle. For this activity he was arrested and tortured during the German Occupation.
In 1944 he began his professional activity by creating a series of portraits of many great Greek writers for the magazine Nea Estia. The portraits of Costis Palamas, Angelos Terzakis, Ilias Venezis, Miltiades Malakasis, Angelos Sikelianos, etc. are well-known. At the same time, he began to illustrate literary and educational books. Book design and illustration was an important activity throughout his life. He has illustrated more than 100 books.
