Los Angeles resident Francois Auroux was captured on NBC’s camera fleeing a California wildfire on his bicycle, clutching a painting by famed Greek artist Alekos Fasianos. His heartfelt act prompted the painter’s family to track him down and express their gratitude for saving the artwork.
The video of Auroux fleeing his home with the artwork went viral on social media. Speaking to CNN, he revealed that he lost all his belongings in the wildfires, managing to save only a few photographs and the painting.
The incident, underscoring the deep sentimental value of the painting to Francois Auroux, led the artist’s daughter and manager of his works, Victoria Fasianou, and her mother, Mariza, to track down the man who evacuated his Pacific Palisades home, clutching the cherished work of the renowned Greek painter.
“He’s an American who owned the painting. We didn’t know who he was, but we wanted to find him to send a message of support, as he’s going through a tough time,” Mariza Fasianou said. “The painting belonged to his mother, which is why he wanted to save it. It held deep sentimental value, and amid the devastation, he chose to keep it.”
“We’ll send a print titled ‘The Coffee Drinkers’, a classic Greek scene Fasianos cherished, which we believe his mother would have loved too,” Mariza Fasianou said. “When he eventually moves into a new home, he’ll have something from us,”
Auroux, a lawyer, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to rebuild his life after losing everything in the fire.
During an interview, he recounted how he managed to save the artwork after deciding to return to his neighborhood to see if he could help or even attempt to save his family home.
“I decided to go back, after my whole family had evacuated to check on the house and help. But I had no idea the fire had grown to such an extent. I didn’t expect the flames to have actually reached the heart of the city. I thought it would be more contained, on the outskirts. But this fire was very different, it’s being called a ‘fire-hurricane,’ traveling at 50-100 miles an hour,” he explained.
The emotional significance of saving this specific painting was not lost on him. “My grandfather, Albert Auroux, was a dental surgeon in Paris and personally knew Alekos Fasianos. He was his doctor, but they also saw each other often and shared a friendly relationship. The area of Saint-Germain, where the two men frequented, was a small neighborhood at the time. My grandfather loved Fasianos’ work and owned several of his silk screens. That’s why my whole family loves his paintings. My mother bought this particular silk screen, ‘The Cyclist‘ from a gallery in Paris and it’s her favorite. She loved the carefree image portrayed in the painting, which is why she chose it. The irony is that at the moment the video was shot, I was also a person on a bike trying to escape in a very different, tragic circumstance,” he said.
Since the video went viral Auroux has been overwhelmed by a wave of support. “First, it came from Los Angeles, and now from Greece. Some people noticed that the painting was by Alekos Fasianos and wrote to me, asking how they could help. Despite the generous gesture of the painter’s family, so many Greeks have reached out. And I understand why. We often hear about fires in Greece, in forests and even in cities. You’ve had so many victims, just like here in California. We share the same dry climate, with strong winds coming off the sea, and we have the same concerns. The planet is warming, and the threshold has been crossed.”