Born in Thespies, Boeotia in 1922, he studied History and Archaeology at the University of Athens (1943-1948). He worked as curator of classical antiquities (Boeotia-Euboea, 1951-1955; Laconia-Arcadia, 1955-1965). He continued with postgraduate studies in Ancient and Modern Art on a German state scholarship (D.A.A.D.) at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne. He completed his doctoral thesis on “Potnia Theron” under Professor E. Langlotz and was awarded his PhD in 1959.
In 1965 he was elected professor of Art History and Medieval and Modern art in the West at the University of Thessaloniki, where he taught until 1978, at the same time publishing numerous papers. In 1979 he transferred to the University of Athens’ School of Philosophy, where he taught the same subjects until his retirement as professor emeritus. His presence helped consolidate the autonomous, regular teaching of the history of western art in Greek universities.
His published work is mainly on European art from the Middle Ages onwards, and Greek art of the 19th and 20th c. He studied also the post-war art of Europe and America.
In 1991 he was elected to the Academy of Athens, and since 1993 he supervises the Bureau of Modern Greek Art. He has given hundreds of lectures and seminars on Art History in Greece and Cyprus, and has delivered papers in numerous conferences in Greece and abroad. He is a member of the International Association of Art Critics, whose Greek department he has served as chairman. He was also president of the Macedonian Art Society.
He has published numerous studies and artists’ monographs and has contributed to major collective works. His long list of publications includes: Από την επιφάνεια στο βάθος: Προβλήματα και δημιουργοί μορφών της σύγχρονης τέχνης (1961); Γιάννης Σπυρόπουλος: Συμβολή για την κατανόηση των μορφών της σύγχρονης τέχνης (1962); Potnia theron: eine Untersuchung über Ursprung, Erscheinungsformen und Wandlungen der Gestalt einer Gottheit. Thessaloniki (1968); Θεωρία και ιστορία της νεώτερης τέχνης (1970); Πολιτισμός και Ιστορία (1973); Η Ευρωπαϊκή ζωγραφική στο 15ο αιώνα (1975); Η ελληνική ζωγραφική 1832-1922 (1981); Σύντομη ιστορία της νεώτερης και σύγχρονης κυπριακής τέχνης (1983); Forms of energy: Paintings and sculptures. New York, Artists Equity (1991).