Antoine Mayo Biography
Antoine Malliarakis, known as Mayo, was born on February 15, 1905 in Port Said, Egypt.
Greek naturalized French painter, active since 1924 in France, he was a surrealist and multifaceted artist: painter, decorator, costume designer, designer, illustrator and much more. As with many of the Surrealists, the Popular Front and the Spanish Civil War inspired many of his compositions.
He studied architecture in France, while frequenting artistic circles in 1920s Paris. He made his debut in the artistic field with decoration work for shows and designing costumes for theatrical productions.
In 1924 he met Man Ray, Desnos, Tzara, Salmon, Picabia and Foujita in the intellectual circles of Montparnasse. The same year he was admitted to the Academy of Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1927, René Crevel introduced him to André Breton, leader of the surrealist movement. Two years later, in 1929, Mayo exhibited with De Chirico at the Galerie des Quatre Chemins. In 1944 his friend, the writer Jacques Prévert, recommended him as costume designer for the historical film "Les Enfants du Paradis". The film was a success and allowed Mayo to have a 20-year career in French cinema, designing the costumes (and sometimes sets) for several classics.
In 1966, Mayo moved his Paris studio to Rome on Via Margutta. Following this move, Mayo began working on a new body of work. He painted historical ruins of antiquity. This period of Mayo's work is known as the "Période Romaine". In 1983 the Center Cultural Français de Rome exhibited a retrospective of Mayo's work, including more recent images of Roman remains. He received the rank of Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 1984 he moved back to France and died in Seine-Port, Seine-et-Marne, on 1 October 1990, aged 85.
