Discus-Thrower, 1924

The “Discus-Thrower” is one of Dimitriadis’ mature works, one of the most characteristic of the way in which he rendered the nude male body. Made in 1924 and exhibited in Paris in the framework of the Olympic Games held there, it won the sculpture prize. The following year the entrepreneur, Euripides Kehayias, a Greek from America, bought it and gave it to the Municipality of New York City, which placed it in Central Park. Another copy was placed in the Dijon stadium in France and a third in Athens, in 1927. The copy exhibited at the National Glyptotheque was cast in 1989 from the plaster model which belongs to the National Gallery.

The dexterity of the artist in the moulding of the nude body, already evident in his earlier works, has now reached its acme. The athlete is depicted at precisely the moment before the toss, in a carefully calculated stance, while his swollen veins and his nerves, that are outlined, reveal his total concentration just before the final endeavor and place an emphasis on the momentary. The work spreads out and dynamically occupies space, while the variety of opposition displayed by the limbs, makes it possible for the composition to be viewed from all sides.