Yannis Karavas is a contemporary Greek painter known for his meticulous maritime art. His work is deeply rooted in Greek tradition, often depicting traditional wooden boats, lighthouses, and the islands of the Aegean. He frequently works with egg tempera and gold leaf on wood, techniques that lend his paintings a luminous, almost sacred quality reminiscent of Byzantine iconography. His style is often described as naïve art, distinguished by vibrant colors and remarkable fidelity to the structural details of historical vessels. His paintings stand as a tribute to Greece’s maritime heritage.

“Eugenios R.” (egg tempera and gold on wood - 45x50)

Galaxidian Lover, (egg tempera and gold on wood - 35x40).

“Elektra” (egg tempera and gold leaf gilding on wood 60x70)

“Aigeus” (egg tempera and gold leaf gilding on wood 70x80)

Gallery

“Anemologio” (egg tempera and gold leaf gilding on wood 40x35)

“Alkyoni” (egg tempera and gold leaf gilding on wood 45x50)

“Aiolos” (oil on canvas)

“Spyridon K” (egg tempera and gold leaf gilding on wood 60x55)

Oil on canvas

“9 Greek Hulls” (egg tempera and gold leaf gilding on wood 70x50)

Group Exhibitions

1970, Cultural Center of the Municipality of Vyronas.
1972, Panhellenic Exhibition, Parnassos Literary Society, Athens.
1973, Anoixi Gallery, Athens.
1973, Cultural Center of the Municipality of Athens.
1980, Megaron, Employees’ Association of the Bank of Greece, Athens.
1982, Greek Artists, Bourtzi, Nafplio.
1983, Nafplio Municipal Gallery, Nafplio.
1988, International Painting Salon, Paris.
1990, Megaron, Employees’ Association of the Bank of Greece, Athens.
1992, Cultural Center of the Municipality of Athens.
1998, Timeless Greek Art, Archipelagos Gallery, Kolonaki.
1999, Grammatopoulos, Kopsidis, Karavas, Mitrakas, Archipelagos Gallery, Kolonaki.
2001, Giannis Karavas & Giannis Mitrakas, Archipelagos Gallery, Kolonaki.
2005, Anna Papadaki Gallery, Athens.
2008, Botsaris Tower, Nafpaktos.
2025, Parnassos Literary Society.
2025, Papadaki Art Space, Athens.

Solo Exhibitions

1983, “Palamidis” Gallery, Nafplio.
1986, “Xenia” Art Gallery, Nafplio.
1987, Sina 16, Athens.
1988, Cultural Center of the Municipality of Nafplio.
1989, Sina 16, Athens.
1992, Forni Gallery, Brussels.
1992, European Parliament, Strasbourg.
1995, Sina 16, Athens.
1996, Archipelagos Gallery, Kolonaki, Athens.
1996, Foyer Culturel d’Etterbeek, Brussels.
1998, Archipelagos Gallery, Kolonaki, Athens.
1999, “Rodiaki Epavli”, Rhodes.
2000, Archipelagos Gallery, Kolonaki, Athens.
2001, “Pyrna Encounters”, Athens.
2002, “M. Mercouri” Art Gallery, Hydra.
2002, Cultural Center of the Municipality of Poros.
2004, Glyfada Nautical Club.
2004, Cultural Center of Pyrgos, Tinos.
2004, Centre CONTAC, Brussels.
2010, Town Hall of Tinos.
2012, Hellenic American College, Psychiko, Athens.
2014, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries,
European Commission, Brussels.
2015, Cultural Center of Patmos.
2018, SYTE, Bank of Greece, Athens.

“All around he creates a ‘predella’, surrounding the main subject with secondary images of decorative elements and filling motifs representing even the minutest detail, always with symbolic value. Sometimes he employs symbols from nature - sea (abundance) or flora (welfare). Or again from the naval tradition - anchor (stability), astrolabe (wealth), sextant (navigation), steering wheel (control), compass (orientation). Sometimes gods, figures and creatures from Greek mythology - Zeus (patriarchy) and Ira (family), Danae (beauty) & Golden Rain (wealth), Eros (love), Day (beginning) & Night (end), Perseus (dexterity) and Andromeda (ideal), Neptune (liquidity) and Medusas (risk), Alexander the Great (strategy) & Kynane (self-sacrifice), Pollux (magnanimity) and Mermaids (passion). Sometimes winds – Borias or Tramountana (northern), Graigos (northeastern), Levantes or Apiliotis (eastern), Siroccos (southeastern), Notias or Ostria (southern), Garbis and Livas (western), Pounentes or Zephyros (western) and Maistros or Skiron (northwestern)”

Yannis Karavas combines his pure art with deep boatbuilding knowledge.

Yannis Karavas because of his origin, as well as his love and devotion for boats, has dedicated many years to the traditional Greek shipyards, the sea and the research of literature related of Naval History. He conveys his deep boatbuilding expertise in painting and manages to illustrate with unparalleled fidelity boats sailing. His boats are replicas of actual models and on the bow he inscribes the name of the boat. These works are painted with unprecedented detail that has made his name famous for this genre. Their representation is accurate from the forestay to the backstay.

“A creatively restless artist.”

By Dora Iliopoulou-Rogan, Art Historian - Art Critic

“Every painting of this indefatigable artist, is a sight for sore eyes. Regardless of the theme chosen every time - be it dead nature, historical scenes, Greek mythology, characteristic landscapes of Greece, different types of sailing ships or imaginary drawings etc., Karavas always succeeds in transmitting integral aspects of his strong personality into his paintings. Paintings created with great craftsmanship and, mostly, with genuine passion for art.”

Regardless of the subject and technique chosen - oil on canvas, egg tempera on wood, watercolour - Karavas manages to orchestrate his stimuli through his perception of colour and light every time, and vice versa. Light is the link among his works, irrespective of the time of creation represented. “Light” is, in particular, the element which always reveals and manifests the artist’s great sensibility.

A sensibility, thanks to which he apprehends, experiences and regenerates the idiomatic atmosphere of Greece, through constant variations of light, evocative reflections in waters and foliages, in short, the inherent aura of every place, the quintessence of every stimulus. Be it a neoclassical house, a traditional chapel, a characteristic neighbourhood, a handcrafter’s workshop, the view of the harbour, the hull of a sailing ship or imaginary compositions involving mermaids, witches, hot air balloons, fairytale-like villages, imaginary animals, exotic and ghostly figures, the artist’s sensible glance, reinforced by a sense of wit, is always present, a feature which adds to the vivacity of his work, while contributing to its apprehension by the viewer in a more substantial way.

The various types of sailing ships - barque, brig, corvette etc. - are exceptionally rendered - and also as far as his techniques are concerned, this feature expresses the full focus of the artist on his stimulus, evoking at the same time endless associations and impressions in the viewer.
Looking at Karavas’ sailing ships, one would feel unrestrained optimism, since they contain - and at the same time are surrounded by - both the breeze of the sea and the aura of Greece itself, in its timeless essence, which identifies with its natural and metaphysical identity.
The blue sky is reflected in the blue sea of Fiskardo, remodelling the traditional buildings and anchored ships through the light. The same is also to be seen in Hydra, where the architectural and structural particularities of the captains’ houses with their different coloured stone walls emerge characteristically. Even there, where human figures are absent, Karavas manages to evoke the human presence thanks to the vivacity with which he renders a square (Pyrghi, Chios), a café, a mere bicycle parked outside a shop. Looking at the works that the artist created inspired by different parts of Greece, one feels the need to go even deeper, to taste directly the charm of every place, that particular atmosphere which makes it unique. Karavas has felt and rendered this very uniqueness to its full extent through his art and true love for everything he creates.
This is also the case in those compositions, where the artist seems to be narrating a fairytale, managing to impress the viewer dynamically, who could by no means remain indifferent to this work. On the contrary, he is encouraged to go through it again and again, always discovering a new stimulus.

Every work is, indeed, a challenge, since it documents - set aside the sensibility for colours and the vibration of the tincture - the artist’s excursive imagination which identifies with the joy for life itself. A microcosm in the image and likeness of the macrocosm is what these works have as effect, and no matter how many times one views them, he keeps having the impression that it is for the first time. Ships, submarines, aeroplanes, flying carriages and various flying devices go hand in hand with all kinds of birds, animals, mythological figures, heroes of our history and absurd creatures that stimulate not only our vision, but also our psyche.
The artist’s sensibility is to be noticed in his use of light and, specifically, in his watercolour paintings. The artist’s atmospheric watercolours are a manifestation of his talent also in this technique, as he seems to have mastered completely the inherent difficulties. He has managed in a persuasive way and with confidence in his art and abilities, to create watercolour paintings, which are marked by an “ineffable” poetry, whatever the subject is.
The artist’s rich imagination, true passion for his craft and appetite for life, awareness of light and both undeniable and great love for his home country are those decisive features for which he has been already recognised for and still is through his constantly developing artistic path; a path which, as it is widely recognisable, and what is more, by an audience of viewers of all ages, corresponds to the actual and primary role of genuine art, which is that of communication.