Nikolaos Gyzis was born in Sklavochori, Tinos, in 1842 and passed away in Munich in 1901.
Considered an exceptional talent, he was admitted to the School of Arts at the age of eight, attending as a regular student from 1854 to 1864 under the tutelage of Phil. Margaritis, Agath. Triantafyllou, R. Ceccoli, L. Thiersch, P. Pavlidis-Minotos, and V. Karoumba-Skopa. In 1865, on a scholarship from the Evangelistria of Tinos Foundation, he continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under H. Anschutz, A. von Wagner, and K. von Piloty. He was introduced to the artistic life there by Lytras, who had been settled in Munich since 1860, and formed close friendships with the painters F. von Defregger, E. Kurzbauer, and F. von Lenbach.In 1880, he became an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts, in 1882 an associate professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, and in 1888 a full professor.
His body of work is multifaceted. He created emblematic works, transcending the conventions of external fidelity and narrativity in his genre paintings and portraits. Especially in his monumental allegorical, idealistic, and religious compositions, he produced abstract, visionary, and deeply subjective works, foreshadowing the achievements of the Jugendstil avant-garde movement and decisively influencing the course of Greek art. In his grand intellectual compositions, high ideas are expressed through symbols, musicality, and harmony in a ritualistic and hymnic manner. The ‘Secret School’, ‘The New Century’, ‘The Glory of Psara’, ‘Spring Symphony’, ‘Art and its Spirits’, ‘The Apotheosis of Bavaria’, and ‘Behold the Bridegroom Cometh’ are among his most pivotal works.
He also created sculptures, posters, and illustrated books.
He participated in and received awards at numerous Greek and European exhibitions, including regular appearances at the annual and international exhibitions of the Glaspalast from 1874, the Paris World Expo in 1878 (third prize), and the Munich International Exhibition in 1892 (gold medals), among others.
He served as a member of the jury at the Munich International Exhibition in 1879 and the Chicago World’s Fair (World’s Columbian Exposition) in 1893.
Posthumously, in 1901, he received special honors from the German state.
His works were featured in the 8th International Art Exhibition at the Glaspalast, as well as in retrospectives in Atnens, at the Iliou Melathron in 1928 and at the National Gallery in 2001.