Emmanuel Zairis (Greek: Εμμανουήλ Ζαΐρης; also Emmanouil Zairis) was a Greek painter active from the late nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth, associated with Realism. He was born in 1876 or 1878 in Bodrum, then in the Ottoman Empire, and died in Mykonos in 1948. He matters because he brought a Realism focused on working people to Greek painting, a style shaped largely by his years in Germany.
In 1894 he went to Bavaria to study at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts under Nikolaos Gyzis. After finishing his studies he stayed in Germany and, between 1904 and 1930, took part in 22 exhibitions at the Glaspalast in Munich. He won the gold medal at the 1913 show, and in 1921 Munich hosted a retrospective of his work. He also spent some time in Paris while searching for a personal style. After several years abroad he settled back permanently in Greece, and in 1932 he was named director of the Mykonos branch of the Athens School of Fine Arts.
Zairis mainly painted working people, with a view to social reflection, and to a lesser extent landscapes and portraits. He moved away early from the principles of the Munich Academy and from ethnographic painting, adopting Realism, and the colour of his canvases shows the influence of German Impressionism. In 1934 a second retrospective, with more than 250 works, was held at the Zappeion in Athens. He also exhibited at the Panhellenic Art Exhibitions of 1938, 1939 and 1940 and at the 1936 Venice Biennale. His works are held by the National Gallery of Greece and other collections, including the Municipal Gallery of Ioannina and the Averoff Gallery.