John Christoforou was born in 1921 in London to Greek parents from Smyrna. At age nine he returned with his father to live in Athens. In 1935 he entered the Athens Academy of Fine Arts. Several years later he returned to London and after World War II devoted his time to painting, eventually earning his first solo exhibition in 1949 at the Twenty Brooke Street Gallery in London. Over the course of the next sixty-two years he presented his work in over fifty solo exhibitions and participated in more than one-hundred group exhibitions throughout the world. John Christoforou is recognized as an important pioneer of the Nouvelle Figuration (New Figuration), an international movement that emerged in the early 1960’s from the abstract art movements of the previous decade and included leading artists such as Francis Bacon and Willem de Kooning.
His works are found in many important public collections, including: Museum des 20 Jahrhundrets,Vienna Bibliotheca National de Colombia, Bogota Museum of Danish Art, Randers Museum Jorn, Silkebrog Biblioteque Municipale, Brest Musee d’Art Contemporaine de Dunkerque, Dunkirk Centre d’Art Contemporain, Montpellier Cabinet des Estampes de la Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris Centre Culturel de Toulouse,Toulouse Musee des Beaux Arts,Toulouse Tate Gallery, London Contemporary Art Society, London Museum of Contemporary Art, Elise and Basil Goulandris Foundation, Athens Frissiras Museum, Athens National Art Gallery,Athens Museum of Art, Seoul Musee Olympique, Lausanne Museum of Modern Art,Taiching Vorres Museum,Athens Museum of Contemporary Art, Cuauhtémoc Musee Galliera, Paris Emfietzoglou Foundation, Athens Centre des Arts Plastiques Albert Chanot, Paris
Selected works
JOHN CHRISTOFOROU (1921-2014) - COMPOSITION
TITLE: COMPOSITION MEDIUM: GOUACHE ON PAPER DIMENSIONS: 62X52 CM. INFORMATION: SIGNED BELOW
JOHN CHRISTOFOROU (1921-2014) - PINK PROFILE
TITLE: PINK PROFILE MEDIUM: MIXED TECHNIQUE ON PAPER DIMENSIONS: 65X50 CM. INFORMATION: SIGNED ON THE UPPER SIDE
JOHN CHRISTOFOROU (1921-2014) - COMPOSITION
TITLE: COMPOSITION MEDIUM: GOUACHE ON PAPER DIMENSIONS: 62X52 CM. INFORMATION: SIGNED BELOW
JOHN CHRISTOFOROU (1921-2014) - PINK PROFILE
TITLE: PINK PROFILE MEDIUM: MIXED TECHNIQUE ON PAPER DIMENSIONS: 65X50 CM. INFORMATION: SIGNED ON THE UPPER SIDE
