Tassos

Anastasios Alevizos (March 25, 1914 – October 13, 1985), known by his artistic pseudonym Tassos, was a distinguished Greek engraver and resistance fighter. Born in Leukochora, Messinia, in 1914, he moved with his family to Athens at a young age, growing up in the Dourgouti neighbourhood. His artistic education began with painting classes under George Kotsakis and continued at the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he studied sculpture and painting with Thomas Thomopoulos, Umberto Argyro, and Konstantinos Parthenis. From 1933 to 1939, Tassos trained in engraving under Giannis Kefallinos, graduating with honours.

His career began with a solo exhibition at Eleftheroudakis Bookstore in 1936, showcasing woodcuts and drawings. That same year, his work was featured in an international exhibition of Greek engravers in Czechoslovakia. Recognition came early, with the Printmaking Award at the 1938 Panhellenic Art Exhibition and the State Printmaking Award in 1940.

A committed member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) since 1930, Tassos contributed to the resistance movement during the Greco-Italian War and the German Occupation. Together with fellow students from Kefallinos’s workshop, he created propaganda posters to boost morale. During the Occupation, his involvement with the National Liberation Front (EAM) and the EAM Artists further demonstrated his dedication to the cause through his art.

Post-liberation, Tassos expanded his artistic focus to include nudes, still lifes, and portraits, incorporating colour into his woodcuts. His contributions to book illustration and graphic arts began early, with cover and illustration work for the literary magazine Nea Estia. In 1945, he became the artistic director of the KKE-affiliated publishing house Ta Nea Vivlia. This role, along with his collaboration with the Organization for the Publication of School Books (OESB), led to the illustration of numerous educational texts, beginning with The Sixth Grade Reader in 1949.

His influence extended to philately, designing postage stamps for the Greek Postal Service from 1954 to 1967 and for the Republic of Cyprus from 1962 until his death. He also directed the Graphic Arts Department at the Athens Technological Institute from 1959 to 1967. During this time, his work was showcased at prestigious international venues, including the Venice Biennale (1950) and Lugano Biennale (1952).

From the 1960s, Tassos focused on the human form, creating large-scale woodcuts with monumental themes. During the Greek military junta (1967–1974), he retreated to Petalidi, Messinia, continuing his artistic work in relative isolation. After the junta’s collapse, he exhibited 70 of these works at the National Gallery in 1975 and joined its board of trustees. As president of the Panhellenic Cultural Movement from 1977, he worked to enhance cultural life in Greece’s provinces.

Tassos remained active until his death in Athens in 1985. Shortly before his passing, he donated 150 woodcuts to the National Gallery. His works have been exhibited extensively in Greece and internationally, reflecting his technical mastery and the emotional depth with which he portrayed ordinary people’s struggles and resilience.

Posthumously, the National Gallery honoured him with a retrospective in 1987. The Visual Arts Society “A. Tassos,” established in 1986, preserves his legacy, maintaining his home and studio in the Mets neighbourhood of Athens as a museum. Additionally, the Municipal Art Gallery of Kalamata was renamed in his honour in 2007. Tassos’s art continues to be celebrated for its commitment to social and humanistic themes, capturing the spirit of a generation.

Source: Wikipedia