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On The Jetty

Artist George D Stivaktas

Date1996

Object number00028099

NamePainting

MediumAcrylic on bainsbridge board, timber frame

DimensionsImage: 380 x 380 mm
Overall: 620 x 595 x 30 mm, 3.2 kg
Mount: 540 x 515 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the Australian Hellenic Educational Progressive Association

Terms

DescriptionA painting by George D Stivaktas titled 'On The Jetty' depicting a sailor on the deck of a warship waving goodbye to a woman standing on the wharf. The warship is marked HELLAS in Greek script and `024', its anchor is raised but it is still tied to a bollard. A mast at the bow flys the national flag of Greece and beneath the image there is a dedication plaque reading `Presented to the Australian National Maritime Museum to mark the occasion of the visit of the Order of Ahepa NSW. To the Thalassa exhibition 24 November, 1996 "On The Jetty" by George D Stivaktas'.HistoryAs a tribute to the Thalassa~Greek Australians and the Sea exhibition, a naive painting titled On the Jetty was presented to the Museumby the Australian Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA). AHEPA is Australia's oldest Hellenic club, well known for its charity support and work in promoting Greek Australian history. The handover ceremony on the 24 November 1996 was attended by many of AHEPA's members who also toured the Thalassa exhibition and Museum. 'On the Jetty' by George Dimitrios Skivatkas, represents the traditional Greek romance with the sea. For Skivatkas, the sailor leaving his wife and home to work on the sea symbolises the difficult separation experienced by many seafaring Greek families including his own. Skivaktas says of his own work: "I have been influenced by my parents and in particular my father who worked on the wharves. All my family like many Greeks have served the seas out of necessity and the hardships of life. But within the hardships of life, the Greeks have the ability to be festive which is in their culture." Skivaktas' training as an architectural draftsman is evident in the clean, graphic style of the painting. He uses strong primary colours, with the blue and white of the Greek flag reflected through out the work. He also draws from the ancient Greek tradition of icon painting using gold as a highlight giving the image an added sense of lightness. Skivaktas hopes 'On the Jetty' will be the first in a series of paintings exploring the Greek Australian seafaring tradition.SignificanceThe subject of the painting 'On The Jetty' represents the traditional Greek romance with the sea. Stivaktas expresses this by showing the husband's willingness to leave his wife for six months every year to work as a sailor.
The sailor for Stivaktas symbolises the lifestyles of his own father, grandfather and great grandfather, their wives and families.