Postcards of Greece: Aspiotis 169

Born in Corfu, Giallinas studied from 1872 to 1875 at the private art school of Charalambos Pachis. Later he continued his studies in Venice, Naples and Rome where he decided to devote himself to watercolors. He returned to Corfu in 1878. He soon began participating in the "Panhellenic Exhibitions"" in Athens and presented his first solo exhibition in 1886. It was there that he met the British Ambassador, Clare Ford, who commissioned him to paint albums of landscapes from Venice, Spain, Rhodes and Istanbul. Ford also arranged an exhibit in London, which ran from 1891 to 1892, and introduced Giallinas to the British nobility. He also participated in the Exposition Universelle (1900). Two years later, he started his own private art school on Corfu. From 1907 to 1908, he painted murals at the Achilleion, a palace built by Empress Elisabeth of Austria. His largest exhibition was organized in 1918 at the "Galerie D’Art Geo" in Athens. He died in 1939. A major retrospective of his work was held at the National Gallery of Greece in 1974. Moreover his home became an art gallery. In 2010, several paintings were stolen and have not been recovered. Giallnas paintings can be found at the National Gallery of Greece, the Municipal Gallery of Corfu, the Municipal Gallery of Larissa, the Teloglion Foundation of Arts etc.