| Alexander Iolas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Constantine Koutsoudis 23 March 1907 Alexandria, Egypt |
| Died | 8 June 1987 (aged 80) New York, USA |
| Cause of death | AIDS related |
| Nationality | Greek, American |
Alexander Iolas or Alexandre Iolas (Greek language, Αλέξανδρος Ιόλας) (25 March 1907 - 8 June 1987) was a Greek - American gallerist and collector. He owned galleries in the United States and Europe and contributed in many private and public art collections.
Contents |
He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on March 25, 1907, to Andreas and Persephone Coutsoudis. In 1924, he went to Berlin as a pianist, but soon started studying ballet. He fled to Paris during Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s where he continued to study dance and socialized with artists such as Jean Cocteau, Giorgio de Chirico,[1] Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Rene Magritte and Max Ernst. There he bought his first work of art. As a dancer he toured extensively in Europe, the United States and Latin America with Theodora Roosevelt[2] and later with the company formed by the Marquis George de Cuevas.
In 1944, gave up ballet after an injury and got involved with the art world. In New York, he becomes the director of the Hugo Gallery, founded in 1944 by Robert Rothschild, Elizabeth Arden and Maria dei Principi Ruspoli Hugo. There, Andy Warhol has his first solo exhibition Fifteen Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote (June 16 – July 3, 1952)[3]
After working at the Hugo Gallery, he founded the Jackson-Iolas Gallery in 1955 with former dancer, Brooks Jackson[4] and later opened galleries under his own name in New York, Paris, Milan, Madrid and Geneva. Alexander Iolas represented in his galleries many artists, among others Andy Warhol, Rene Magritte,[5] Roberto Matta, Ed Ruscha, Jean Tinguely, Joseph Cornell, Yves Klein, Jannis Kounellis, Takis, Victor Brauner, Jules Olitski,[6] and Niki de Saint-Phalle. In promoting work that initially found few to favor it, he was able to reassure the potential client with his irresistible and often mischievous charm, dazzle them with his flamboyant personality and often sensational mode of dress.[7]
Known primarily for his exclusive representation of the major European Surrealists in the United States- primarily Max Ernst and Rene Magritte - Alexander Iolas helped to form more than one important collection. In particular, John de Menil and Dominique de Menil, founders of the Menil Collection, had him as one of their three art consultants, along with Father Marie-Alain Couturier and Jermayne MacAgy.[8]
In 1972 Iolas takes over Carla Lavatelli's studio on the 75th and 1st str. in New York for an exhibition. It was the first exhibition by a dealer at an artist's studio.[9]
In 1976, he closed all his galleries except the one in New York after the death of Max Ernst, as he had promised him he would.
In 1984, Alexander Iolas commissioned Andy Warhol to create a group of works based on Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper for an exhibition space in the Palazzo Stelline in Milan, located across the street from Santa Maria delle Grazie, home of Leonardo's masterpiece. Warhol exceeded the demands of the commission and produced more than 100 variations on the theme.[10]
From early 1965, Alexander Iolas started traveling to Greece.
Extending his activities there, he contributed to the opening of some galleries in Athens, like the Iolas-Zoumboulakis gallery[11] [12] and the Xippas Gallery[13] and he inspired the foundation of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki to which he donated a large number of art works from his collection. He is listed as the Museum's 'great benefactor'.
In 1983 he was accused by a former employee for "antiquities smuggling, drug peddling, and the prostitution of young men"[14], accusations that where circulated by the Greek tabloid newspaper, Avriani causing a scandal. By 1984 he was investigated for antiquities smuggling, but he was not charged.
He died of AIDS in Cornell Medical Center in New York City on Monday 8 June 1987.[15]
Alexander Iolas built around 1965 a 1300 square meter villa on a 7000 square meter lot in Agia Paraskevi, a suburb of Athens[16] There he stored and exhibited his art collection with the prospect that one day it would become the "Alexander Iolas Museum".
When he died in 1987 the heirs to his property became his sister Niki Stifel and her daughters Sylvia de Cuevas and Lina Nation. His villa was sold to a real estate developer, but construction plans were held up by the Ministry of Culture that marked it as a site of Greek cultural heritage. The villa nowadays has been vandalized[17] and most of his collection of art works has been stolen or dispersed.[18]
The present condition of the Villa Iolas has been a recurring issue in the Greek Parliament, the local Municipality and the Greek newspapers, but also a subject and study-case for artistic and architectural projects.
Villa Iolas was listed in 1998 as a historic monument by the Greek Ministry of Culture, two years later was designated the site for exclusively public cultural activities and recently the re-selling of the estate has been blocked. The Greek State has not expropriated the Villa. Regarding the derelict state of the Villa Iolas, questions have been raised by members of the Greek Parliament: Maria Damanaki[19], Stavros Benos, Fotis Kouvelis[20] and Kyriakos Mitsotakis.[21]
Although the Greek State has agreed on the acquisition of the Villa Iolas from its current owner, this has not happened to this day.