Mina Papatheodorou-Valyraki

Women's High Jump

Monaco 2000 - La Vittoria

Mina Papatheodorou-Valyraki

Exuberant in the extreme, the paintings of Mina Papatheodorou-Valyraki truly pulsate with life. It is impossible not to notice the passion that exudes from her works, as they explode with colors and shapes. The 2002 Sport Artist of the Year is a wondrous artist indeed.

Mina was born in Athens, Greece. From 1975 to 1980, she studied painting at the School of Fine Arts of the Technical University of Athens, under Professor Yiannis Moralis. She graduated with distinction in 1980. During this time, she obtained her diploma of theoretical studies of the School of Fine Arts of Athens, and attended courses on fresco and icon painting. In 1981, she was granted a scholarship by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enable her to follow a post-graduate course entitled Perfezionamento in Storia dell' Arte Medievale e Moderna' at the University of Florence, from which she received her Ph.D. in 1986.

The Sport Artist of the Year 2002 has presented many one woman shows including Rome in 1993 at the Galleria Ca' d'Oro; Florence, Italy in 1999 at the CART Art Gallery; Monte Carlo in 2000 for the 'Villa Les Aigles' 58th Grand Prix of Monaco; and Athens in 2000 for the November show of Ferrari Genesis Executive cars; to name just a few. Valyraki has also been a part of group exhibits including some prominent showings such as the F.I.A.C. Expo-Arte Internazionale at the Galleria Morabito in Bari, Italy; and the Biennale Dello Sport in Belle Art I exhibit in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.

Valyraki's works are exhibited in the National Gallery in Athens, in the Olympic Museum of Lausanne, Switzerland, in the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C., in the 'Lamborghini Automobili' Museum in Sant Agata Bolgnese in Italy, the UNESCO collection in Paris, the Olympic Museum of Barcelona, in Ferrari Genesis of Athens and many, private collections in Greece and abroad.

Mina is the artist to whom Automobili Lamborghini commissioned the commemorative work of "La Storia Della Lamborghini, 35 years," an 18m painting for its 35th anniversary in June 1998. This huge painting has decorated the big aula of the Lamborghini Automobili industry in Sant' Agata Bolognese, Italy since 1999.