The substantial number of works by the short-lived, progressive artist of Epirote origin in the A. G. Leventis Foundation Collection is due to the collector Evangelos Averoff-Tossizza’s special interest in the life and work of Pericles Pantazis; Anastasios Leventis acquired the Averoff Collection in the 1970s.

Pantazis is a special case in 19th-century Greek art history. He never followed the path to Munich and the Academy there, but lived in Belgium, where he joined the avant-garde and became a pioneer exponent of Impressionism. Influenced by the precursors of this movement, Manet and Courbet, the artist developed an Impressionistic approach to landscape painting, which was the subject matter of innovation par excellence: in Rainy Sunset, the fascinating contrasts, articulated through bright colour brushwork, are characteristic, as flashes of light emerge through the heavy clouds; Rocks by the Sea captures through the dynamic intensity of texture an almost abstract quality, which reflects the glowing light in infinite colour gradations, describing a fleeting moment. The realistic human figures – in the artist’s oil paintings, such as Gypsy Woman with Harmonica, as well as in his small watercolours – indicate his penetrating and sensitive eye. Another favourite subject matter was still life, in which he employed a dark, warm palette, as in Composition with Vases, Plates and an Umbrella and Composition with Vases, Flowers and a Fan. These are works of a complex structure and with realistically rendered textures. There are clear references to the still-life tradition of the Low Countries, while the elements of Japonisme and art d'Orient testify to their popularity in Europe at that time.