The painter, printmaker, iconographer, and author Rallis Kopsidis, of East Thracian and Cappadocian descent, was born in Kastro, Lemnos, in 1929 and passed away in Glyfada in 2010.
In 1945, his family settled in Alexandroupoli. He attended the Pedagogical Academy of Alexandroupoli (1948–1949) and immediately after studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts under Andreas Georgiadis (1949–1953). He interrupted his studies to apprentice under F. Kontoglou (1953–1959), with whom he collaborated on the iconography of various churches.
In his deeply anthropocentric painting, which carries a strong experiential character, he adopts elements of Byzantine, post-Byzantine, and folk painting. His style is characterized by a naive manner, stylization, miniature-like rendering, and realistic elements presented with an anti-realistic disposition. Lavrio and the Castle of Lemnos are his primary thematic series.Beyond painting, he was active in printmaking, mosaic art, and the iconography of churches in Greece, Belgium (Chevetogne Monastery), and Geneva (Holy Church of Saint Paul at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy). He also engaged in journalism, writing, and the illustration of books and magazines. He founded the “Kanistron, to meraki tis romiosynis” publishing house, focusing on themes from Greek tradition, folk art, and Byzantine heritage.
He held solo exhibitions in Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos, Heraklion, Katerini, Alexandroupoli, and Patras. He participated in group exhibitions in Athens (e.g., Panhellenic Exhibitions of 1963, 1965, 1967, 1975), Thessaloniki, Patras, Larissa, Xanthi, Veria, Kozani, Giannitsa, Makrinitsa, Ermoupoli, and abroad (“Contemporary Greek Painters and Printmakers” – Dublin 1979; “Gravures Grecques” – Cameroon 1980; “Peinture Grecque 1968-1988” – Brussels 1988; “Greece Today” – Cologne 1976).
His works can be found in the National Gallery, the Ministry of Culture, the Vorres Museum, the Municipal Art Gallery of Thessaloniki, the Balkan Contemporary Art Gallery of Kontias (Lemnos), the Municipality of Myrina (Lemnos), and in numerous private collections in Greece and abroad.