Ancient art and sculpture
Ancient art developed in a sober and elaborate style. It is characterized in particular by its sculptures, one of the forms that has best survived the passage of time. Three great Greek sculptors have marked the country: Phidias (circa 490-431 BC), Polyclitus (5th century BC) and Praxiteles (circa 390-330 BC).
Pupil of Ageladas of Argos, Phidias was entrusted by his friend Pericles with the decoration of the Parthenon and the direction of the construction of the Acropolis. His most famous works are theAthena Promachos (around 453), a bronze statue of 8 meters high placed on the Acropolis, and theApollo of Cassel (around 460). His talent is illustrated in particular in the chryselephantine statues (in ivory and gold) of Athena for the Parthenon and Zeus for the temple of Olympia, of which only fragments remain today.
Polyclitus was a sculptor and architect from Argos, a pupil of Ageladas. His works follow the theory of the proportions of the human body that he had stated in his most important work, the Canon (literally, "the rule"). The statue of the Doryphorus, The Spear Bearer, considered to be the basis of classicism, and The Diadumene, representing an athlete crowning himself (preserved in the Athens Museum), served as models for his heirs. Didn't Lysippus call the Doryphorus "his only master"?
Born in Athens, Praxiteles created with theAphrodite of Cnidus (ancient copy) a type of Aphrodite whose harmony of curves influenced the Hellenistic period. Unfortunately, only one work remains of him: the famous marble statue representing Hermes playing with the child Dionysus, designed for the temple of Hera in Olympia. It is now in the museum of Olympia.
Another genre that has crossed the centuries is of course the mosaic, considered one of the oldest art forms in the world. Already popular for their resistance in the Mesopotamian world, before being decorative, they were able to demonstrate their lasting quality more than reason. It is towards the VIIIth century before our era that the Greeks seize this technique and modernize it by developing a manufacturing process much more elaborate. The use of very small units and the introduction of geometry and symmetry allow the appearance of complex images, true masterpieces, most often made on the ground. They represent mainly pagan gods, men or animals and teach us a lot about ancient culture and lifestyles. To discover the mosaics and other forms of ancient art, we recommend the Archaeological Museum of Athens, which has a beautiful collection.
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is essentially characterized by Orthodox religious works and buildings (churches, monasteries, basilicas, frescoes, icons...). The Byzantine churches always respond to the same architectural forms: a Greek cross plan with a central dome. They represent the universe, the divine creation, and are decorated with frescoes, mosaics and icons. In the Orthodox religion, the icon is venerated as a sacred image. It is more than a simple representation, it is supposed to embody a saint or a deity. In churches and homes, the icon is sought after for its miracles and healing powers. Visit the splendid Byzantine Museum in Athens to appreciate the treasures of this civilization, from its beginnings until its fall in 1453.
An abundant modern art connected to the continent
After the period of religious paintings dating from the Byzantine era, influences multiplied, especially Italian. From the 19th century, Greek artists, very attached to their culture and heritage, expressed themselves through their history. The War of Independence marked the minds and aroused vocations: Theodoros Vryzakis (1814-1878) and Dyonissios Tsokos (1814-1878) illustrated this period with talent, between portraits and battle scenes, very idealized.
Famous Greek painters of the 19th and 20th centuries were strongly influenced by the Munich schools, such as Nikiforos Lytras (1832-1904), Constantinos Volanakis (1837-1907), Nikolaos Gysis (1842-1901), and Georgios Iakovides (1853-1932). In the course of the twentieth century, the impressionists and moderns were gradually given more space and influence, with most of those convinced by the Munich school turning to the Paris school. For a time, the representation of historical events was abandoned in favor of landscapes of Greece filled with color and light. This influence can be felt in Pericles Pantazis (1849-1884) and Nikolaos Lytras (1883-1927), two figures of Greek impressionism. Gradually, various post-impressionist movements emerged: Fauvism and Expressionism, among others. Thus, Constantinos Maleas (1879-1928), close to Fauvism, is considered one of the precursors of modern Greek art, with his landscapes of the country of which he presents very personal interpretations. In addition to these developments turned towards the West, Byzantine and oriental influences persist, especially in popular arts. Theophilos Hadjimichail (ca. 1870-1934) became known as a naive painter in the 1930s.
In terms of sculpture, we remember Giannoulis Halepas (1851-1938). Born in Tinos, an island with a tradition of marble sculpture, Giannoulis Halepas is the most famous Greek sculptor of the modern era. His mother, believing that the mental illness of the sculptor was at the origin of his art, unfortunately destroyed some of his works. His talent can be admired in the Glyptotheque of Athens but also by walking through the alleys of the First Cemetery of Athens.
After the war, Greek painters, such as the expressionist George Bouzianis (1885-1959) or Yannis Tsarouchis (1910-1989), continue to develop modern art and allow the emergence of original styles. Alekos Kontopoulos (1904-1975) was the first modern artist to introduce abstraction into Greek painting. At the end of the 20th century, Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1918), an Italian born in Greece, founded metaphysical art, while Giannis Kounellis (1936-2017) is among the leaders of the Arte Povera movement and Takis is the great master of kinetic art (1925-2019). The works of these artists can be seen at the National Gallery of Athens.
From daguerreotype to contemporary photography
Daguerreotypes were first mentioned in the Greek press in 1842, three years after their invention in France, while the first Greek portrait was made one year later. About ten years later the first Greek photographers began to establish themselves and photography became very popular in the following decades. At the time, it was a technique before being an art and the practitioners had to respond to their clients' orders. Photography was therefore mainly limited to portraits and documentation of natural sites or monuments. At the beginning of the 20th century, techniques became simpler, which led to a sharp increase in the number of professional photographers, but also to the appearance of amateur photography. These years of political turmoil were also marked by the rise of photojournalism, a new genre for documenting wars in the Balkans and Asia Minor.
In the 1920s and 1930s, a distinctly Greek style developed, a singular pictorialism influenced by literature and ethnography. Elly Seraidari (1899-1998), better known under the professional name of Nelly's, active in Greece from 1924 to 1939, is a key figure of this so-called "classical" pre-war period, as is Spiros Meletzis (1906-2003). During the war and after, Voula Papaioannou (1898-1990), Dimitris Harissiadis (1911-1993) and Kostas Balafas (1920) are among the most recognized photographers. Papaioannou is a particularly remarkable figure. Self-taught, she began photography at the age of forty and for two decades produced an extremely accomplished body of work, allowing Greece to stand out on the modern photography scene. Her work documents the period of the occupation and the civil war and has a strong social dimension.
In the 1950s, interest in photography was renewed with the creation of the Greek Photographic Society and the holding of several major exhibitions. Nevertheless, the phenomenon quickly lost momentum due to the lack of institutional support and professionalism, until the appearance of a "new Greek photography" in the mid-1970s. The creation of photographic centers and specialized study programs allowed a renewal of the Greek scene. These new generations, although not forming a homogeneous school, moved away from the Greek visual clichés (sunny beaches and ancient ruins) and explored their environment from new angles, in its social, urban, post-industrial aspects, or simply from an intimate point of view. The country is now endowed with a rich and dynamic photographic culture, which can be discovered at the Hellenic Center for Photography for example, where the Athens Photo Festival is held every year.
A contemporary art in full expansion
Contemporary art in Greece is concentrated in Athens and Thessaloniki. Athens has become, in recent years, one of the most dynamic and creative centers of contemporary art in Europe. A network of artists, enthusiasts and patrons has developed, with strong international ramifications. There are many contemporary art galleries in the center of Athens, especially in Kolonaki. Every year, various events such as Art Athina, the Athens International Contemporary Art Fair(www.art-athina.gr) or ADAF, the Digital Arts Festival (adaf.gr), punctuate the calendar. The Athens Biennial takes place once every two years (athensbiennale.org). The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) only opened in the early 2000s and, hampered by the economic crisis, has not been able to develop its collections as quickly as expected - it is only since Documenta 14 that it has filled up considerably, and it is definitely worth a visit.
Indeed, in recent years, the city has been chosen to host various world-class events that have helped anchor it on the international art scene. In 2016, the Benaki Museum hosted "As one", a seven-week program during which the "Abramovic Method" was presented in the presence of the famous Serbian performer Marina Abramovic. In the spring of 2017, it was the German exhibition Documenta that decided to move to Hellenic lands, to benefit from a creative energy in contrast to that of Kassel, the Germanic city of origin. In correspondence, the two cities pride themselves on exchanging knowledge and world views. Learning from Athens is the subtitle of this colossal exhibition that mobilizes the entire city for nearly four months. The National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Benaki Museum, the School of Fine Arts, the Athens Conservatory and the University of Architecture are the main buildings where the works, performances, concerts, screenings and other discussions programmed during the Documenta are held. In addition, the city's parks and central squares were partially inhabited by this artistic wave. Many local contemporary artists are highlighted during the event, such as Zafos Xagoraris, to name but one. Born in 1963, he studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His work defies classical artistic genres and consists mainly of public installations, participatory events, visual and sound devices. Documenta thus has a long-term impact on the local scene, acting as a showcase and springboard for Greek contemporary art. Nevertheless, numerous oppositions emerged in the face of this large-scale event, which was deemed contradictory to the purpose it was supposed to support, and it was notably the anarchists of the Exarchia neighborhood who criticized it most violently, refusing to accept the instrumentalization of the Greek economic crisis and that of refugees, and lining up against the "intellectualism", "exoticism" and "post-colonialism" associated with Documenta.
In addition to the major events that have shaken the city in recent years, many cultural venues support and house contemporary creation. The Onassis/Stegi Cultural Centers, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center are the most renowned. AMOQA, the Museum of Queer Arts (amoqa.net), recently opened its doors, encouraging artists whose issues are related to the body and sexuality, topics that are addressed in a political way through performances, documentaries and debates. Some small Athenian bars also host ephemeral contemporary art exhibitions, like Barrett and TAF in Psirri.
Street art, symbol of Athenian rebel energy
Since the origin of the word graffiti comes from the Greek graphein, which means "to write", "to draw" or "to scratch", street art in Greece makes sense. The practice as we know it today has come a long way before arriving in Athens, where it has enjoyed great popularity in recent years. Indeed, Athens is a very colorful city and its walls are covered with posters, decorations and frescos of all kinds. There are several huge murals, which appeared thanks to the support of the municipality, especially on the occasion of the Olympic Games of 2004. Many of them have been created by young local artists, some of whom have graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts, one of the few schools to have a curriculum in this (in)discipline!
Street art has thus become one of the distinctive characters of the city, blending perfectly with its popular, rebellious and festive energy. From large and elaborate frescoes to more protesting and spontaneous expressions, these graffiti are an unparalleled means of public expression and make the walls of the city a real place for debate. It is in the districts close to the city center, in particular in Exarchia, Psyrri, Anafiotika and Gazi, that we find the most of them. Although these works may disappear at any time, here are some iconic pieces that should last: the murals by the Brazilian collective Os Gemeos and the iconic mural by Alexandros Vasmoulakis. The former are located on the walls of ILPAP, the bus depot located near the archaeological area of Kerameikos. They are characterized by a very colorful style and by characters with yellow skin. The second one is on the main square of Psyrri and is characterized by its very graphic aspect, halfway between collage, photography and painting.
