Countryside – Ralli Sotiria

Sotiria Ralli was born in Elaiochoro of Kynouria in 1944 and passed away in 2011. She studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts. She is a graduate of the Superieur Ecole der Beaux Art in Paris and the University of Chicago declared her “Master of Arts” and honored her with the title of honorary doctorate of the Chair of Fine Arts. She was also a member of the Greek Chamber of Artists of UNESCO Piraeus and the International Union of Women Scientists.
Her need to express herself in the most perfect and flawless way leads her to a constant struggle with her expressive means and to a limitless analysis of herself. She has said of her art: ‘Apart from landscapes and the sea, I am particularly moved by man of every colour and race, man in his daily toil. Human figures are for me an endearing and rich source of inspiration’. The human element dominates her works as content, substance, theme and message. She always tries to balance emotion with form, to convey reality, to reveal a particular inner life. Her quest to convey the living human being in all its dynamism and diversity is unmistakable. Her landscapes are distinguished by their technical excellence and their emotional content. Her classicist style does not prevent her from imbuing her paintings with human depth and psychological underpinnings.
She has participated in a large number of solo exhibitions in Athens, Piraeus, London, New York and has taken part in more than forty group exhibitions. Among these, her participation in three national exhibitions in Monte Carlo and Nancy, France, under the direction of the International Association of Women Painters and Sculptors of France, stands out. Her works can be found in the Piraeus Municipal Gallery, the National Gallery, the collection of the Bank of Credit and in municipal galleries in other Greek regions. Important private collections around the world host works by Sotiria Rallis (collection of Dr. Barry Solzberg-Roslyn Estates, USA, the Tsaousoglou collection, the collection of the painter Vasso Katraki, etc.). She has painted the exterior surface of the Athens Mansion in the Neo Faliro area and a large-scale mural in Piraeus.