Maria Hadjiandreou works with discipline and her paintings display a strict composition and use of light which perhaps recall the great Dutch master Vermeer.

Realism is not an easy matter, especially in the current age, a period where we have learned to watch and do everything without first choosing what we might actually like to follow and support. Maria’s choice of realism, then, shows courage. And she does not chose any form of realism. She does not chose, for example, photorealism with its fastidious reproduction of reality. The illuminated faces springing from the black background reveal the human spirit and the light of their soul. They are executed with a profound knowledge of technique known only to true artists. The battle between light and darkness that we observe on her canvases bears witness not only to her flawless technique but also man’s inner struggle with his own light and dark sides. Her models stand opposite us with an honesty as if before a mirror, showing us the truth of his or her soul, their true selves expressing something, implying something, hiding something and all the time beckoning us to discover what that something might be. The body postures and expression in their eyes show the personalities of each sitter, sometimes confident, sometimes shy, other times full of joy or sadness. Maria Hadjiandreou’s portraits are realistic inasmuch as they desire to present man and life as it is, without lying to our conscience. However, her works possess that certain artistry which is capable of describing the magical in everyday existence, that is to say the mystery of life itself.

Ira Papapostolou
Art Critic and Historian
November 2017