Greek academic art of the 19th century

The most important artistic movement of Greek Art in the 19th century was academic realism, often called in Greece "the Munich School" (Greek: Σχολή του Μονάχου) because of the strong influence from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Munich (German: Münchner Akademie der Bildenden Künste), where many Greek artists trained. The Munich School painted the same sort of scenes in the same sort of style as Western European academic painters in several countries, and did generally not attempt to incorporate Byzantine stylistic elements into their work.

The creation of romantic art in Greece can be explained mainly due to the particular relationships that were created between recently liberated Greece (1830) and Bavaria during King Otto's years (See:Kingdom of Greece). In this period the Greek state was encouraging young artists to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and in particular study painting. In addition, after centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities existed for young artist in Greece itself, immediately after independence, so studying abroad was imperative for them. Munich,was an important international center for the arts and is the place where the majority of Greek artists of the 19th century would choose to study and a minority would go to Paris. Both academic and personal bonds developed between early Greek painters and Munich artistry, giving birth to the Greek "Munich School" of painting. Many of these young artists later returned to Greece to teach at the Polytechnic School and later Athens School of Fine Arts, where they would transmit their artistic experiences. Some of them, like Nikolaus Gysis, chose to remain in Munich, the so-called Athens on the Isar.

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