Original oil on canvas ""Tropical Dream"" by listed artist Vangelis. Dimensions 48"" x 80"". Vangelis Andriotakis was born in 1952 in Greece, in the island of Crete. Since his first encounter with oil colors at a very early age, his fascinating journey through Art could fill many novels. Vangelis is an artist whose work follows a great tradition, the tradition of vision and classic excellence associated with the artists of his native island of Crete. From the masterpieces of the Minoan civilization to the paintings of El Greco, to the writings of Kazantzakis, this beautiful Mediterranean island has been the berth for some of the world’s most respected artists.Like all classics, Vangelis is reviewed by the judgment of following periods, but unlike some of the greats of earlier eras it isimpossible to pass easy verdicts on him, because of the sheer exceptional diversity of his work. The mere scope of his output makes it next to impossible to engage with it all.Vangelis resides and works in the United States since 1972, where he met his wife and muse Ioanna.In 1995, he re-encountered his childhood love - flowers - and began the creation of what is destined to be the most prolific collection of floral works of art on canvas, the art world has ever seen: Natural Exposure.This dazzling collection, masterfully brilliant with color, besides expressing intangible emotional concepts or ever- greater displays of spiritual and symbolic significance, is a dramatic testament to the almost surreal beauty of flowers.However, he is exceptionally diverse in his work and is continuously creating series of different themes, such as: Greece: God’s Love Affair With Planet Earth (early era) Women: Timeless Beauty and Classic Ideal (early era) Dreams and Inner Consciousness (early era) Venetian Masks: The Mystery Fashion Series Dazzling Jewels Avant-Garde Surreal Series Abstract SeriesVangelis has held numerous exhibitions and his paintings grace the collections of the Palace of Tokyo in Japan, the U.S.A. RoseSociety, the U.S.A. Orchid Society, The Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman, The Ritz Carlton Jamaica, the Umpton Hotel North Carolina, many private collectors’ residencies, and he has been commissioned to paint for the White House, the Kennedy Foundation and the Queen of England.His paintings are sold in Galleries all over the world.“ In the beginning I was trying to convey energy and composition – to cast a different light of flowers and bring to the viewer a new angle of vision, to charm and surprise…” says Vangelis of his flower paintings, “but from the very first studies I realized that beauty in flowers is strictly pragmatic”. Blossom traits – from form, to scent, to color – are purely practical in Nature, designed to attract attention and ensure survival. We have been living and working with flowers for a lifetime, but never truly looked at these seductive, powerful creatures, until Vangelis revealed their most intimate crevices through his paintings. We are seduced by the flower’s exquisite beauty, intoxicated by the depth of color, and tingled by tactile sensuality of the flower’s inner self.“After all we have borrowed the enticing power of the flowers for our own seductions. Long before diamond rings and candlelightdinners, humans used the scent and beauty of the flowers to woo true loves to courtship, marriage and ultimately reproduction. Perhaps the intelligence of flowers has being as underestimated as that of beautiful women.”