Michalis Tombros

Michalis Tombros was born in Athens in 1889. He studied sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1903 to 1909. In 1914 he pursued further studies at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he encountered the work of Auguste Rodin, Antoine Bourdelle, and Aristide Maillol. In 1919 he was elected adjunct professor at NTUA’s School of Architecture. Resigning in 1923, he returned to Paris. Back to Greece in 1928, he held his first solo exhibition at Stratigopoulou Gallery. He published the art review "20os Aionas" (20th Century), active between 1933 and 1935. In 1938 he was appointed professor of sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts and served as its director from 1957 to 1959. His monumental sculptures were installed in various parts of Greece, including Chios, Skyros, Andros, Nafplio, and Konitsa. In 1959 the United States Information Service (USIS) hosted a retrospective in Athens to mark a half century of Tombros’s artistic practice. In 1968, he was elected to the Academy of Athens. Assimilating influences from ancient Greek art and French modernism, His sculpture is characterized by strong modelling, a sense of solidity, inner balance, and a measured expressiveness. In 1972 the Hellenic American Union in Athens staged a second retrospective. Tombros died in Athens in 1974.