John Craxton, Niko Ghika

 Niko Ghika

Athens Houses (1927 - 1928)

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas (Greek: Νίκος Χατζηκυριάκος–Γκίκας; February 26, 1906 – September 3, 1994) was a leading Greek painter, sculptor, engraver, writer and academic. He was a founding member of the Association of Greek Art Critics, AICA-Hellas, International Association of Art Critics.^[1]

He studied ancient and Byzantine art as well as folk art due to his adoration for the Greek landscape. During his youth he was exposed in Paris to the avant-garde European artistic trends and he gained recognition as the leading Greek cubist artist.

His aim was to focus on the harmony and purity of Greek art and to deconstruct the Greek landscape and intense natural light into simple geometric shapes and interlocking planes.

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John Leith Craxton RA, (3 October 1922 – 17 November 2009) was an English painter. He was sometimes called a neo-Romanticartist but he preferred to be known as a "kind of Arcadian".^[1]

Portrait of John Craxton sleeping by Alexandros Kleidonas (London, 2002)
Born	3 October 1922 St John's Wood, London
Died	17 November 2009 (aged 87)
Known for	painting

British Museum

All hands on deck! We’ve been busy behind the scenes of our next free exhibition, opening next week.

The display showcases works by artists Niko Ghika and John Craxton, and the writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, and focuses on their lives in Greece in the mid-20th century. The objects in the show depict the culture, people, sights and landscapes they encountered while they lived in the country, highlighting four key places – Hydra, Kardamyli, Crete and Corfu.

Find out more about the exhibition here: http://ow.ly/HOzR30iIA4x