The painter Fotis Kontoglou was born in Ayvalık, Minor Asia, in 1895 and passed away in Athens in 1965.
In 1913, he enrolled at the Athens School of Fine Arts, which he left in 1915 to depart for France. In Paris, he worked as an illustrator for various magazines, and in 1919, he returned to Ayvalık.
In 1922, he visited Mount Athos and came into contact with Byzantine painting, which decisively influenced his work. In 1936, he worked as a conservator in Mystras, where he undertook the cleaning of the frescoes at the Peribleptos Monastery. He had already begun working on murals, and between 1937 and 1940, he presented his most important secular-themed work at the Athens City Hall. Kontoglou also decorated several churches with hagiographies, attempting to revive Byzantine style and ecclesiastical iconography. Through both his painting and his ideological references, he influenced Greek painting. Important Greek painters were his students, including G. Tsarouchis and N. Engonopoulos.
He frequently used various pseudonyms, such as Palmas. He also illustrated several books, while his written body of work is equally rich.
His work was presented in solo exhibitions (Lyceum of Greek Women, Athens 1923, 1924, 1927, etc.) as well as in group exhibitions (Mytilene 1923; Volos 1926; Venice Biennale 1934; Panhellenic Exhibition, Athens 1938, 1948, 1957; Alexandria Biennale 1957, etc.). Posthumous exhibitions: National Gallery-Alexandros Soutsos Museum 1978; Foundation for Greek Culture, New York, London 1997.