(b Tinos, 24 Aug 1851; d Athens, 15 Sept 1938). Greek sculptor. The son of a sculptor and born on an island with a considerable artistic tradition, he left Tinos in 1869 to study sculpture at the School of Fine Arts in Athens. He continued his studies (1873–6) at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich under Max von Windmann. He returned to Athens in 1876 and produced some highly finished classicist marble sculptures, including Sleeping Girl (1878; Athens, First Cemetery, Tomb of Sophia Afentakis). In such works as this the classical references are evident in the treatment of anatomical detail and drapery, while in other works (e.g. Filostorgia, 1875; Tinos, Mus. Tinian Artists) they are apparent in a more austere form. Mental illness forced him to interrupt his work in 1878, and he did not return to it until 1918. While his themes remained essentially the same after this—‘Satyr and Eros’, ‘Medea’ and so on—his style changed dramatically. He produced rough clay moulds and plaster casts and became more interested in conveying the inner strength of works than the surface sculptural qualities, as shown by Satyr Playing with Eros (marble, 1877; Athens, N.G.; plaster version, 1918; Tinos, Mus. Tinian Artists) and Medea and her Children (1922–3; Tinos, Mus. Tinian Artists; plaster version, 1934, Athens, N.G.; see GREECE, fig. 5). This change is best seen in his large series of powerful expressionistic sketches (e.g. Athens, N.G.), which were not always connected to specific sculptures. Casts of Halepas’s sculptures were brought to Athens from Tinos, and an exhibition of his work was held in 1925 at the Academy of Athens, which also awarded him the Arts Distinction in 1927. His isolation and illness prevented any real contact with contemporary artists and trends. Despite this, Halepas’s romantic use of myth inspired a move towards Expressionism in Greek sculpture.

• Halepas, Yannoulis
  • works
    • Greece, §IV: Sculpture