Words of Praise

Words of Praise

“I know of no artist working in Greece, or elsewhere for that matter, who has so brilliantly portrayed on canvas the Greek scene.  I am especially proud that it is a fellow American who has captured with such tenderness and understanding the simple yet heroic eloquence of the Greek villagers.”

Paul Sadler, First Secretary
Embassy of the United States of America
June 26, 1969

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“On purely artistic grounds it seems to me that Miss Sylvia deserves every possible support and encouragement. She has chosen –rightly, from her own viewpoint—to work in isolation.  Because of this self-imposed discipline, her work has a cumulative richness and originality it could have acquired in no other way.

But there are other qualities about Miss Sylvia and her work, not perhaps strictly relevant to her creative achievement, but still of considerable importance. A person of great charm, perseverance, and moral integrity, she has overcome severe physical handicaps to lead a life that would daunt many more apparently well-equipped people.  She has made herself universally loved and, more important, respected, in this small but extremely strict and critical community. . . Lastly, her work itself, apart from its intrinsic merits, has the additional claim to recognition in that it’s vue d’ensemble provides a cumulative (and, I believe, unique) interpretation of a rare, valuable and fast-dying folk-culture.  It is social commentary as well as art; it is, in the last resort, a historical record.”

Peter Green, M.A., PhD. (Cantab.) F. R. S. L.
Professor of Greek History and Literature,
College Year in Athens
and former Member of Council of
The Royal Society of Literature
June 22, 1969

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“Dear Miss Sylvia: I only wanted to throw a look on your paintings but I stayed three hours and felt quite happy when I left.

The art scene is no longer so consolidated that it does not admit individual endeavors which seem to be far off the principle style movements.  On the contrary there is a growing interest in artists who leave the art centers and capitols in order to visualize experiences of old and still valid social patterns.

Your isolation on a Greek island has given you the concentration to develop your talent to an extraordinary density of expression.  The danger of falling back into folklore representation is mastered by an astonishing artistic consciousness.

I am therefore delighted to see that we will have the chance of a show in the Neue Galerie in the year of 1973.”

Dr. Wolfgang Becker, Director
Museum Galeri
Aachen, Germany
December 14, 1971