Biography
Manolis Calliyannis (b. Mytilini, Lesbos, Greece, 1923 – d. 2010) received lessons in painting from an Impressionist painter from Paris, Antonis Protopatsis (1897-1947). Calliyannis studied architecture at Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg (1946-1948) where he also painted. His first solo exhibition was organised at the Constantia Galleries, Johannesburg, in 1948 and in the same year he moved to Paris. He first made his reputation with abstract paintings in restrained sober colours. In 1955 he began to making regular visits back to Lesbos and he painted many landscapes of Greece.
