“«Εκτελώ ένα χρέος αγνώστου ανάγκης και αφήνω τη φύση μου στις εμμονές της χωρίς αξιοκρατικές παρενοχλήσεις ή εντολές «ρευμάτων» τέχνης, ανοιχτής πόρτας ή παραθύρων… πιστεύοντας ακόμα στο ρόλο της παρθενογέννησης με τα ίδια τετριμμένα μέσα: ένα χαρτόνι, μια παλέτα και τέσσερα πινέλα. Όμως θέλω τη φόρμα τόσο φορτισμένη και δυνατή, ώστε να μην μπορεί να τη διαλύσει ούτε βιτριόλι!... Δεν υπάρχουν «δρόμοι» και δεν υπάρχει καμία εξέλιξη στο πνεύμα. Υπάρχει η αξιοπρέπεια της χειρωνακτίας και το μεγαλείο της «πονηρής αποδρόμησης» που τη χρεώνω φυσικά στον εαυτό μου, έχοντας πάντα τη συναίσθηση της παγκοσμιότητας και του κοινού παρανομαστή…»
Κωστας Λουστας1933-2014
Επισκεφτείτε το ψηφιακό αποθετήριο του ζωγράφου Κώστα Λούστα στο Εθνικό Κέντρο Τεκμηρίωσης (ΕΚΤ) το οποίο αποτελεί τόπο συγκέντρωσης διαφόρων έργων του καλλιτέχνη σε ηλεκτρονική μορφή
“Loustas presents fine lines blending with a geometric or Cubist influence, optical illusion, lucidity of style, suitable realism and post-Impressionism … works which glow with color and spirit… He is not an imitator … of any style. Mr Loustas is his own stylist by giving every instance its own need.
Susan A. VlamNew York World Telegraph and Sun (October 1964).
“Loustas uses bold strokes but soft colors in his New York paintings … His passionate attachment to the city is apparent in every canvas he has done … He has successfully captured the heart of the city in “Childrens’ Zoo”, “The Postman”, “At Broadway” and “Children Around a Tree.
Virginia ShewardNewsday (New York, September 1964)
“A poet of the brush …
Charlette Willard, New York Post (November, 1964)Project Manager, Coffee Inc
“In the paintings you presented there are no ostentatious, contrived and meretricious concoctions which fool the ignorant. This is honourable on your part. With the talent you possess you could go very far as long as you wish it and without fearing hard work. With a lot of love and appreciation, your former professor, Yiannis Moralis.
Yiannis MoralisHandwritten letter to Kostas Loustas, dated May 3rd 1968, on the occasion of Kostas Loustas's solo exhibition at the Hilton Gallery in Athens.
“Not only do we see Florina in the varying seasons but through the veil of the many moods of the artist, for the balance of joy and sorrow in the spirit of Loustas is sensitive and quicksilver. One moment Florina is all colour, movement and happy action and the next empty, drained of colour, a town of melancholy and rain. His quest is for the truly artistic rather than the sensational. The casting of shadows, the catching of reflections, the spreading radiancy of an Autumn day, these more intangible things he has the ability to depict … His line is quick, deft and assured.
Lorraine CraigArts Review (London, December, 1969)
“A highly rewarding one-man show … on display at the Galerie Internationale … 42 oils … executed in broad, self-confident strokes of subtle, integrating color. Many, such as … a superb series “Olympias Halkidiki” are extremely exciting compositions both when viewed as abstract works and as representational, moody paintings.
Betsy PowellArt newspaper Park East (New York, October 1972)
“What makes Loustas’ work so spectacular is the way in which he makes full use of his extraordinary skill in handling colours and shapes to portray human emotion.
Paraskevi Manakou SatrazaniCurator of the Thessaloniki Municipal Art Gallery, Amelia 2004, official exhibition catalogue (Thessaloniki, 2005)
“A painter of supreme talents with a continuously rich artistic production for the past 50 years…instantaneous visual perception of the subject, quickly transferred onto the canvas with expressionistic brushstrokes and colours which are almost violent but also innocent…Loustas is immersed in the landscape, and becomes one with the moisture of Northern Greece which sits heavily on the colours…Already established amongst experts, he can deservedly claim a great deal more in our country’s history of landscape art.
Harris KambouridisArt historian-art critic, Newspaper "Ta Nea" (Athens, October 2006)
“In addition to his academic education, his paintings reveal a deep knowledge of the currents of European art, and what the previous generation of Greek painters learned from them. Loustas experimented with techniques and materials, eventually cultivating a personal idiom of soft expressionism, which culminated in his series of “80+1 Portraits of Thessaloniki Personalities”.
Constantinos Papachristourt Curator-Director of the N.Hadjikyriakos-Ghika Gallery, Benaki Museum, LOUSTAS, official exhibition catalogue (Thessaloniki, 2016)
“He knows how to transform the day-to-day into something atmospheric, full of poetry and sentiment, forming at the same time a direct bridge of communication with the emotional world of the spectator. His paintings are in absolute harmony with the seemingly simple but literary observation of everyday life, and he lures the spectator-reader into an internal description of his chosen subject matter.
Alexandra Goulaki-VoutiraProfessor at the School of Fine Arts (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and general secretary of the executive board of the Teloglion Foundation of Arts, Unknown works by Kostas Loustas at the Teloglion Foundation of Arts, official exhibition catalogue. (Thessaloniki, 2019)