Inside the walls of Chora in Patmos, George Tatakis visited the house and studio of the late painter Vassilis Kypraios, 1936–2021. A former student of Yannis Moralis who had lived in Paris, Kypraios opened his home for wine, conversation and a view toward the Aegean.
Inside the walls of Chora
I met Vassilis Kypraios at a local café in Patmos. He invited me to his home for a glass of wine, and later that day I entered his house and studio inside the walls of Chora.
Kypraios, who lived from 1936 to 2021, had been a rebellious student of Yannis Moralis and had spent years in Paris. His home carried the calm precision of an artist: antique furniture, paintings, studio materials, whitewashed walls and an open view toward the Aegean.
Wine in the courtyard.
Vassilis Kypraios in his studio.
Inside the painter’s house.
The view from the house of Vassilis Kypraios.
The visit felt less like an interview and more like a pause inside another person’s inner landscape.
We drank wine on the balcony as the light changed. Around us were paintings, old furniture, studio objects and the silence of a house shaped by a long life in art.
After his passing in 2021, the afternoon remains in the photographs as a quiet encounter with a painter, his rooms and the island that had entered his work.