Alexander Iolas

Alexander Iolas (26 March 1908 - 8 June 1987) was an Egyptian born Greek art gallerist and an important collector of modern art works.  

Alexander Iolas (26 March 1908 - 8 June 1987). Greek gallerist and an important collector of modern art works.  
Alexander Iolas
Born
Constantine Coutsoudis,

26 March 1908
Alexandria, Egypt
Died8 June 1987
New York
CitizenshipUnited States of America
EducationSpoken Languages:

Greek English French Italian German Arabic

Russian
OccupationBallet dancer

Gallerist Art dealer

Art collector
Parent(s)Andreas Coutsoudis, Persephone (Psarou)
RelativesDimitrios Coutsoudis (brother)

Nike Stifel (sister)

Iro Xenakis (sister)

Biography

Alexander Iolas was born on March 26, 1908, in Alexandria, Egypt, under the name Constantine Coutsoudis, to a well-off family of cotton traders.[1] However, from an early age, he showed his inclination towards the arts and consequently, in 1928, he decided to spread his wings and move to Athens. There, Alexander Iolas began to associate with an important artistic circle of people such as Kostis Palamas and Angelos Sikelianos, who in fact played the role of teacher in his life, as well as Eva Palmer-Sikelianos. It was in Athens where he took his first steps in dancing.

In 1930, upon the urging of Dimitris Mitropoulos, he moved to Berlin where he devoted himself to dance studies. He attended the school of Tatjana and Victor Gsovsky, while he participated in the Salzburg Festival from 1931 to 1932.

In November 1932, Iolas moved to Paris where he continued studying ballet with some very important teachers, while he also attended some Art classes at the Sorbonne.[2]

In 1935, Alexander Iolas went to New York. There, on 14/12/1935, he signed a contract with the Ballet Productions dance troupe and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera House, dancing La Traviata.

On 19/11/1945 Alexander Iolas became a naturalized American citizen and signed as Constantine Coutsoudis, for the official change of his name took place later.

The restructuring of his name was an invention of his: He had already appeared as Jolas Coutsoudis in theatrical programs since 1931, long before he went to America. The name Iolas gradually replaced his actual surname as it was more euphonic, two-syllable and therefore easier to pronounce. Mainly though it was symbolic since it was associated with Iolaus, a glorious figure of Greek Mythology. Alexander was also a glorious name, closely related to the country in which he was born.

In 1945 Iolas decided to give up dancing and explore a way to transition to Art. It was rumored that this transition was due to an injury he had, but truth is that in 1945 Iolas was already 37 years old and as he had said himself: “I was becoming too old for dancing”.[3]

On September 1, 1945, Iolas's first gallery, the Hugo Gallery, was officially established in New York, named in honor of François Hugo, the last spouse of Donna Maria Ruspoli who was a close friend of Iolas. He started by exhibiting works of European surrealist artists, such as René Magritte, Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Victor Brauner et al. There, in 1952, Iolas also presented Andy Warhol's first exhibition. He later collaborated with the New Realists (Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Martial Raysse et al.), with Arte Povera artists (Jannis Kounellis, Pino Pascali et al.) and many others. In 1954 the gallery expanded and was renamed Alexander Iolas Inc.

Alexander Iolas was one of the pioneers in the development of a “network” of art galleries, satellites of a central art gallery, by opening new Alexander Iolas Galleries in Geneva (1963), Paris (1964), Milan (1966), Zurich, Madrid and Rome. At the same time he promoted Greek artists abroad, such as Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Vagis, Moralis and Tsarouchis. He also collaborated with the younger generation of Greeks, such as Kostas Tsoklis, Pavlos, Takis, Akrithakis, Fassianos and Mara Karetsos, who had already started a career abroad.

He also published art catalogues, prefaced by, among others, André Breton and Pierre Restany, as well as collectible books of artists and poets in a limited number of copies (Max Ernst, Giannis Ritsos, Odysseas Elytis et al.). He donated artworks to large museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris (donations in 1977), as well as the National Art Gallery of Athens (donation in 1971).

Having obtained worldwide fame, he often said that he would return to Greece in order to contribute to the progress of its artistic life. The fall of the Greek junta had paved the way. He gradually closed down all his galleries but the one in New York, thus keeping his promise to Marx Ernst, to stop when he died. The fact that, during the '70s, many artists from the old guard died, people with whom Iolas had been nurtured and for whom he had deep love and respect, must have also played a significant role in his decision. In Greece, he collaborated with various galleries, such as the Zoumboulakis – Iolas Gallery, Medusa, Vicky Drakos, Athens Art Gallery, Skoufa et al.

From 1985 until his death, in 1987, Iolas was treated with mistrust and malice from a large portion of the Greek Press, that created a vulgar image of him. He was even accused of illicit trade of antiquities, a case that did not reach the court because he died, while all other accusations were dropped as groundless. On the initiative of Costas Gavras, there has been, from abroad, an attempt to defend Iolas, which was co-signed by many internationally recognized personalities, such as the Byzantinologist – Historian Helene Glykatzi-Ahrweiler.

In 1984, he donated to the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art 47 works of contemporary art from his personal collection, while he promised to donate more works. Eventually, he didn't manage to fulfill this promise because, in 1987, Alexandros Iolas died in a hospital in New York, defeated by AIDS.

Also in 1984 he commissioned the American Pop artist Andy Warhol to do a series of paintings after Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper. The works premiered in Milan just months before both men's deaths.[4]

Sources

Coutsoudis - Iolas, Eleni (2021). My Uncle Alexander Iolas The Man Behind the Myth (in Greek). Athens: Publications Minoas S.A. ISBN 978-618-02-1854-1

Notes
  1. Coutsoudis – Iolas, Eleni (2021). My Uncle Alexander Iolas The Man Behind the Myth (in Greek). Athens: Publications Minoas S.A. pp. 34, Iolas’s father, Andreas, was involved in the cotton trade in Egypt. He was a classificateur (classifier) and often travelled to Upper Egypt in order to check the quality of cotton. ISBN 978-618-02-1854-1.
  2. Coutsoudis - Iolas, Eleni (2021). My Uncle Alexander Iolas The Man Behind the Myth (in Greek). Athens: Publications Minoas S.A. p. 125. ISBN 978-618-02-1854-1.
  3. Coutsoudis - Iolas, Eleni (2021). My Uncle Alexander Iolas The Man Behind the Myth (in Greek). Athens: Publications Minoas S.A. p. 144. ISBN 978-618-02-1854-1.
  4. "The Man Who Discovered Warhol". 9 August 2017.
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