Zanalis, Vlassis

Greeks in Australia

MN 2905

Permission required

1934 to 2003

Call Number
MN 2905

Description
0.17 m.

Access advisory
Available for reference; not for loan.

Cite As
State Library of Western Australia, MN 2905, Vlase Zanalis papers, ACC 8201A.

Biography/history

Palassis Ioannis Zanailis was born in Greece in 1902, and migrated to Perth in 1914 where he became known as Vlase Zanalis. In 1921, he began formal art studies at Perth Technical College under the tuition of the Western Australian artist, James Linton. In 1934, he held his first public exhibition where he presented his painting “Birth of a Nation”. During the 1930s he accepted commissions to undertake industrial themes, “The Miner” being the most famous canvas surviving from this period. Vlase’s most celebrated works are the icons in Greek churches in Western Australia and St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Sydney. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he made several trips into the outback including the Kimberley and Pilbara regions, painting landscapes, Aboriginal portraits and Aboriginal icons. In 1963 he gained the Claude Hotchin Prize. During the last years of his life, he became obsessed with Aboriginal themes, producing eighty eight pieces. He was one of the first Australian artists to explore the link between Aboriginal spiritual art and Christian icons. He died in 1973. In 1994, Dr Neville Green, Dr John Yiannakis and Ms Anthea Macrides worked on a project to research the life and works of the artist and transform this material into a manuscript.

Summary
Includes biographical notes, books, correspondence, scrapbooks.

Subjects

Zanalis, Vlase, 1902-1973 — Archives.
Artists — Western Australia — Archives.

Manuscripts

2023-10-26