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Collection summary
Acquisition information
Processing information
Preferred citation
Restrictions on access
Restrictions on use
Biography of Drossos P. Skyllas
Scope and contents of the papers
Custodial and administrative history
Selection and appraisal of the papers
Separated materials
Related materials
Index terms
Arrangement of the papers
Detailed description of the collection
Collection Summary
Creator: Drossos P. Skyllas; Phyllis Kind Gallery
Title: Drossos P. Skyllas, visual documentation and other material
Dates: circa 1965-1985
Abstract: Various materials related to the artist Drossos P. Skyllas. The collection includes original documentary Polaroid photographs by Skyllas and other material created by the Phyllis Kind Gallery while they represented the artist.
Extent: 1 box
Acquistion Information
All records were accessioned with another major gift of work by Skyllas donated by Phyllis Kind in the fall of 2006. See separated material for complete information.
Processing Information
Farris Wahbeh processed and encoded the collection in the spring of 2007.
Preferred Citation
Drossos P. Skyllas visual documentation, collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind.
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open to researchers and the public at Intuit's Robert A. Roth Study Center. Please contact the study center at studycenter@art.org for to schedule an appointment. To view archival policies, please refer to the Study Center web page.
Restrictions on Use
Researcher must obtain proper clearance to reproduce images on transparencies. Intuit does not hold the copyright to any of the images found in this collection.
Biography of Drossos P. Skyllas
Born on the Greek island of Kalimnos in 1912, Drossos P. Skyllas was trained as an accountant after his father opposed his early interest in art and worked for a time in his father's tobacco business before emigrating to the United States shortly after World War II.
Settling in Chicago, and encouraged and supported by his wife Iola both financially and personally, Skyllas devoted himself solely to his art work. Except for the influence of Greek icons, which he could have acquired easily in Greece, and from his many trips to the Art Institute of Chicago, Skyllas was not academically trained as an artist. His skill, however, surpassed that of academic training, incorporating and mixing techniques reminiscent of traditional Greek Orthodox icons with those from artists he admired at the Art Institute, including Seurat and Caillebotte.
Skyllas worked in the medium of oil on canvas, creating remarkable portraits and nudes in studied settings, landscapes, still-lifes and religious figures from the Greek Orthodox pantheon. He was known to actively solicit and seek commissions at prices ranging from $25,000 with $5,000 more if the sitter wished to have a landscape in the background. Given the high price for these artistic services, Skyllass solicitations went unanswered.
At the time of his resettled life in Chicago from the late 1940s until his death in 1973, Skyllas produced a total of thirty-five completed paintings. Other significant works included sketches, cartoons, and designs for his own rendition of The Last Supper.
Scope and Contents of the Papers
Collection includes an original letter by Skyllas about his last work that was never completed, the artist's rendition of The Last Supper. The typed letter details measurements and mediums, and also solicits the reader to purchase a completed work in the future. The letter is affixed to a board with a full photomontage of one of the cartoons.
Original Polaroid photographs include the artists own documentation of his work, including portraits and still-lifes. Of note is a portrait of the artist in front of the work Three Sisters with his wife Iola and one of the artist working in his home.
There are three series that include published material, photocopies, photographs, and color transparencies related to Drossos P. Skyllas created by the Phyllis Kind Gallery.
Custodial and administrative history of the records
Material was in the custody of the Phyllis Kind Gallery. While Phyllis Kind was aware of Skyllas's work during his lifetime, the Phyllis Kind Gallery acquired the complete artistic works of Drossos P. Skyllas after the artists death in 1973. It also acquired source material, such as photographs, writings, and correspondence the artist drafted. The Gallery served as the sole representative of the artist.
Selection and Appraisal of the Papers
Records created by the Phyllis Kind Gallery that were included in the initial manuscript collection and related to Drossos P. Skyllas were retained for their contextual and historic information and remain as three series in this record group. Duplicate copies of material were interfiled in related permanent collection object files. See separated and related material for those respective accession numbers. Other duplicate copies were transferred to educational files.
Separated Materials
A handwritten letter referencing Skyllas's The Last Supper
was donated at the same time by Phyllis Kind and subsequently cataloged and stored with Intuit's permanent collection.
Drossos P. Skyllas
Untitled (The Last Supper Letter), no date
Pen on paper 18 x 15 inches (framed), 11 x 8 inches (sheet)
Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.17.5.
Related Materials
Six original sketches, cartoons, and designs that are referenced in this record group were accessioned, cataloged, and subsequently housed with Intuit's permanent collection. They include the following works:
Drossos P. Skyllas
Untitled (The Last Supper, preparatory drawing), no date
Graphite on tracing paper
6 x 9 x 22 feet
Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.21.1.
Drossos P. Skyllas
Untitled (The Last Supper, preparatory drawing), no date
Graphite on paper
5 x 5 x 40 feet
Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.21.2.
Drossos P. Skyllas
Untitled (Ceiling and architectural details of refectory for The Last Supper), no date
Graphite on paper
5.5 x 39 x 4 feet
Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.21.3.
Drossos P. Skyllas
Untitled (Drawing grid used for The Last Supper), no date
Graphite on paper 7.8 x 12 x 2 feet
Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.21.4.
Drossos P. Skyllas
Untitled (Detail of refectory window for The Last Supper), no date
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
6.2 x 8 x 11feet
Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.21.5.
Drossos P. Skyllas
Untitled (Interior architecture), no date
Graphite on paper 6 x 5 x 22 feet
Collection of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, gift of Phyllis Kind, 2006.21.6.
Index Terms
Names:
Skyllas, Drossos P., 1912-1973
Kind, Phyllis
Phyllis Kind Gallery
Subjects:
Outsider art Illinois Chicago.
Document Type:
Personal papers
Photographs
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged beginning with original source material by the artist and continues with material created by the Phyllis Kind Gallery.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Series 1:Drossos P. Skyllas, "The Last Supper" letter and photo montage, undated (Box 1; 1 folder)
One typewritten letter mounted on board with a photomontage detailing the artist's work of his rendition of The Last Supper. Photocopies of the letter are included.
Series 2:Drossos P. Skyllas, Polaroids, circa 1960-1975 (Box 1 ; 1 box)
Thirty-one 5 x 3 inch Polaroid photographs created by Drossos P. Skyllas to document his own work, some of which are color. Original dimensions of works are marked by the artist on lower edge of polaroid.
Series 3:Phyllis Kind Gallery, photographs, undated (Box 1 ; 1 folder)
Color and black and white photographs of various Skyllas paintings created by the Phyllis Kind Gallery.
Series 4:Phyllis Kind Gallery, transparencies, undated (Box 1 ; 1 folder)
Ten 4 x 5 inch and two 10 x 8 inch transparencies created by the Phyllis Kind Gallery of various Drossos P. Skyllas paintings.
Series 5:Phyllis Kind Gallery, assorted Skyllas material, undated (Box 1 ; 1 folder)
Photocopied texts, photographs, and postcards created and distributed by the Phyllis Kind Gallery for promoting Skyllas's work.
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