(b Desfina, Parnassis, 1892; d 1957). Greek painter. He learnt the art of icon-painting from a local artist. In 1906 Papaloukas went to work in a paint shop in Peiraeus. While a student at the Higher School of Fine Arts in Athens (1909–16) he completed a series of icons for the altar screen of St Dimitrios in Desfina. From 1916 to 1921 he completed his studies in Paris at the Académie Julian and other art schools. In 1921 he joined the Greek army as an Official War Artist during the Asia Minor campaign, although his total output was lost during the devastation of Smyrna (now Izmir). Papaloukas settled in Aiyina in 1922–3 and painted landscapes, visiting Mt Athos (1923) to study the Byzantine iconography and to paint local scenery. His first one-man show was in 1924 in Thessaloniki, and he spent the rest of that year on Lesbos working on landscapes. After teaching at the School of Handicrafts (1925), he executed frescoes in the church of Evangelistria in Amfissa in neo-Byzantine style (1926–31). In his paintings he experimented with colour, applied boldly with flat patterns. From 1930 to 1940 he exhibited with the Techni group and the Greek Artists’ Association. Papaloukas also designed sets and costumes for the Greek National Theatre, decorated façades of private houses and the Archaeological Museum in Herakleion, the Megaspílaion Monastery and the chapel of the Nomikos School, Athens. In 1940 he was appointed consultant to the town-planning office of the Athens Municipality and curator of the municipal art gallery. From 1945 to 1951 he taught drawing at the School of Architecture, Athens, where in 1956 he was elected a professor. Large retrospectives took place in 1976 at the National Picture Gallery and in 1982 at the Municipal Cultural Centre, both Athens.

• Papaloukas, Spyros
  • Greece, §III: Painting
  • Pikionis, Dimitris