23rd of July 1914

On 23rd July 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War, Nassos Daphnis was born as a son of a small farmer in the little village of Krockeai in region of Lakedeimonia near Sparta.

1930

During the Great Depression young Nassos emigrated to the USA. In Athens he had to wait with his family two weeks for a ship, and during this time young Nassos became acquainted for the first time with the antique art of the Greek monuments and art and began to be interested in art and painting.

1930 - 1938

Nassos Daphnis worked in the flower shop of his uncle in New York. In this time he also began to paint and taught himself the techniques of painting. He painted landscapes and flowers in a naïve manner.

1938

In the "Contemporary Arts Gallery" in New York the first exposition of his paintings took place.

Spring 1939

Nassos Daphnis was invited to visit the Gratwick Nursery in Pavilion, N.Y., where he saw for the first time in his life Japanese tree peonies in full bloom. Fascinated by the beauty and elegance of these flowers he began to paint tree peonies.

1942 - 1945

In 1942 he joined the army, travelling the full length of Italy under General Staff from south to north and was dismissed in 1945.

1946 - 1955

In spring 1946 he stayed again in Gratwick's Nursery, but now he didn't want only to paint tree peonies but to create new varieties himself. In a first step he began to cross selected forms of Paeonia lutea with fine Japanese Moutans. In Gratwick's Nursery he found a lot of first-class parent plants. In the first years of his breeding work he created the 14 F1-crosses that are registrated.

1950

In 1949 Nassos Daphnis went to Paris and Florence for over two years to study and visited for the first time after emigration to the USA his native country.

Since 1952

On his return from Europe he was successful in breeding the first BC1-crosses which opened up new possibilities for further gorgeous creations: the BC2- and BC3-crosses. In these crosses the share of the genetic Moutan strain may be increased and even more beautiful flowers may be achieved.

1938 - 1942

Painting in "naïve manner"

1945 - 1946

Painting in "surrealistic manner"

1947 - 1948

Painting in "biomorphological manner"

1948 - 1951

Painting in "organic manner"

Ab 1952

Painting in "geometric manner"

1947 - 1995

In these years numerous exhibitions of Daphnis' paintings take place in the "Contemporary Arts Gallery", "Leo Castelli Gallery" in New York and other galleries in the USA and Europe (Milan, Paris, Athens). In many American Museums one finds his paintings.

1963 - 1986

In this time Nassos Daphnis got some medals for his paintings.

1965

Registration of the first crosses (F1-crosses)

1966 - 1987

Registration of further F1-, BC1-, BC2- and BC3-crosses and some accidental seedlings.

1973

Nassos Daphnis got the A. P. Saunders Medal, Tree Peony Award, the highest honor in the USA for tree peony breeders. Nassos Daphnis overcame with his work the infertility of the Lutea hybrids and opened up new possibilities in breeding of new Lutea hybrids.

1995 - 1996

Registration of his last crosses