The painter and set designer Yannis Tsarouchis was born in Piraeus in 1910 and passed away in Athens in 1989.
He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts under S. Vikatos, G. Iakovidis, D. Geraniotis, K. Parthenis, D. Biskinis, Th. Thomopoulos, and G. Kefallinos (1928–1933). Simultaneously, he attended lessons in Byzantine hagiography at the studio of Fotis Kontoglou (1930–1934). In 1935, he traveled to Paris, where he was taught the technique of copper engraving. Through Tériade, he met Henri Matisse and Alberto Giacometti, and discovered the work of Theofilos.
From 1928, he began working in set design, collaborating—among others—with the National Theatre of Greece, the Greek National Opera, Karolos Koun’s Art Theatre, Covent Garden in London, and the Théâtre National Populaire in Paris, alongside personalities such as Maria Callas, Katina Paxinou, Alexis Minotis, and Franco Zeffirelli. He was also involved in book illustration and the writing of art criticism.
During the dictatorship (1967-1974), he settled in Paris, returning to Greece in 1980.
In 1982, the Yannis Tsarouchis Foundation was inaugurated at his home in Marousi.
His paintings were presented in solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, including a retrospective at the British Council (1952), a solo exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris, and participation in the Biennales of Alexandria (1955) and Venice (1958).
As one of the most important representatives of the ’30s Generation,’ he incorporated the ideal of ‘Greekness’ into his work. He developed a personal visual style influenced by Hellenistic and Byzantine artistic traditions, the Renaissance, the work of fellow artists such as Matisse, Kontoglou, and Theofilos, as well as folk art. He was particularly interested in portraiture, while also depicting landscapes, still lifes, and allegorical scenes.