100 years since the birth of the charismatic sculptor (and holistic creator) Philolaou Tlupa (1923-2010) honored in his special homeland Larisalike a debt that is paid off gradually. Known in France, where many of his public sculptures are part of a wider cultural heritage, his brother photographer from Thessaly, Takis Tloupa (1920-2003), Philolaos (as he became known by his name) is a special case. Acquaintance with his drawings as presented in the Hatziyanneio of the municipality of Larissa, edited by Andreas Giannutsou, together with some sculptures (mostly busts), this is a way to comprehend his genius and to stand thoughtfully before his greatest talent, already manifested at the age of 17, in drawings and watercolors of maturity and beauty.

OUR exhibition is a harbinger of the dedication, which will take place at the end of the year in the Municipal Gallery of Larisa – the Museum of G. I. Katsigras. Larisa starts and creates spaces and produces thoughts for this great child of hers. If Takis Tlupas, as a photographer, is intertwined with the soul of Larisa and Thessaly, then his brother Philolaos is a free and independent spirit who spread his wings in France from an early age. In Larissa there are his sculptures, the bust of Georgakis Olympios on the Trigoni Plateau and the monument to the National Resistance in the Alcazar park, as well as in Volos, Thessaloniki and Alimos.

But given the dispersal of his large sculptural installations across France (thanks to a policy in favor of art in public spaces), the presence of his sculptures in his homeland is minimal. As a sculptor, Philolaos is known for his large-scale sculptures, such as the water towers at Valence (near Grenoble), made of stainless steel and cement, which he combined with his own technique. Philolaos was constantly generating ideas and forms.

Larisa begins to create spaces and produce thoughts about this great child of hers, who became famous in France.

But before his work at Hatzigianneio, with a guided tour by museologist Valentinis Margaritopoulos, in the presence of Vice Mayor Panos Sapkas, I got to know the inner aspect of Filolaou’s personality. The projects are exhibited for the first time and are all one of a kind, with high aesthetics and performance. They were in a file belonging to the daughter and second wife of Philolaus, and were never exposed. This is a revelation. Even before entering the School of Fine Arts (1944), Philolaos painted with surprising maturity. The drawings and watercolors he painted at the age of 19 testify to his intelligence.

His miniature sculptures (among them Colonel Lyapkin, who took refuge in Larisa) and his busts, borrowed by the Larisians, who were friends and relatives of Philolaus, are almost classical, with the exception of one that refers to a Cycladic statuette and modern sculpture. This is a portrait of the same woman next to her classical head. Larisa, who is experiencing the year of “Filolau Tlupa”, is likely to acquire another of his works. As mentioned by the curator Andreas Yiannoutsos, there is a possibility that the sculpture of Georgakis Olympios, which is over 3 meters high and now in France, will be placed in Larissa. For the first time, the connection with the place of his birth has a basis and a perspective.