Polychronis Lembesis

Polychronis Lembesis
Born	Polychronos Lembesis 1848 Salamis Island, Greece
Died	1913 Athens, Greece

Polychronis Lembesis, (Greek Πολυχρόνης Λεμπέσης) (1848, Salamis Island - 1913, Athens) was a Greek painter, a member of the Munich School of Greek artists.

Lembesis was the son of a shepherd from the island of Salamis. He spent his childhood in Salamina, memories of which influenced his artistic work all his life. He studied painting initially at the Athens School of Fine Arts and in 1875 continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Munich, thanks to a scholarship by the politician Dimitrios Voulgaris ("Tsoumpes"). In the academy he was taught by Wilhelm Lindenschmidt and Ludwig von Löfftz. In Munich he became a friend of the already known Greek painter Nicholaos Gysis.

In 1880, Lembesis returned to Athens and opened his atelier in the Thission district. Although he was a master in Landscape painting he became known more for his skills in portraiture. He began painting portraits of aristocrats and politicians of his age such as Kapsalis, Santarozas, Serpieris, Levidis and many more. He also taught painting to the children of many of his rich clients such as Stephanos Dragoumis, who later became prime minister of Greece. The Dragoumis family supported him for most of his life. He participated at many group exhibitions in Athens (Melas House 1881, Parnassos Literary Society 1885, Zappeion 1888 and 1896 etc.). In 1903 he participated at the International Exhibition of Paris; the next year his work was included in the artistic exhibition for the International Exhibition of Athens.

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