“JUVENILIA: From early style to mature work”. Tracing the first steps of eleven leading figures of modern Greek art

The Bank of Greece, the Ioannis F. Costopoulos Foundation, and the Benaki Museum present the exhibition “Juvenilia: From Early Style to Mature Work,” hosted at the Benaki Museum / Pireos 138.

The exhibition JUVENILIA: From early style to mature workoffers a distinctive exploration of Greek painting and printmaking, tracing the seeds of ideas, motifs, and stylistic features that first appeared in the early works of eleven leading Greek artists, and gradually took root in their mature visual language.

The artists presented are Spyros Vassiliou, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, Yannis Tsarouchis, Yannis Moralis, A. Tassos, Vaso Katraki, Yannis Spyropoulos, Alekos Kontopoulos, Dimitris Mytaras, Yannis Gaitis, and Chryssa Romanou – figures whose contributions were pivotal to the evolution of 20th-century Greek art.

A collaborative project between three institutions and their curators, the exhibition revisits the beginnings of these artists’ creative journeys. It asks: What were the first expressive elements to surface in their work, and how did these early traces permeate and shape the artistic language for which they later became renowned?

To deepen this inquiry, the co-curators invited esteemed art historians and theorists to contribute research and essays, bringing diverse perspectives to the study of these formative stages.

In this way, for the study of juvenilia, the following matchings were created:
Spyros Vassiliou · Anny Malama
Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika · Evita Arapoglou and Ioanna Moraiti
Yannis Tsarouchis · Anna Kafetsi
Yannis Moralis · Evgenios D. Matthiopoulos
Α. Tassos · Yannis Bolis
Vasso Katraki · Spyros Moschonas
Jannis Spyropoulos · Olga Daniilopoulou
Alekos Kontopoulos · Bia Papadopoulou
Dimitris Mytaras · Areti Leopoulou
Yannis Gaitis · Elena Hamalidi
Chryssa Romanos · Polina Kosmadaki

Through their choices, these art historians have shaped the exhibition into small “cells” or thematic units. Within them, drawings, paintings, and prints – some unpublished or rarely seen, others well-known – are placed in dialogue, allowing the viewer to decipher what constitutes an artistic “first attempt”: the recurring motif, the idea reworked in new contexts, the impulse first tested in early works and later embedded in the artist’s mature visual language.

These early works contain treasures — often overlooked at the time of their creation, yet invaluable when revisited in relation to the oeuvre as a whole. JUVENILIA proposes not merely a return to the youthful or “immature” past of each artist, but a new and perhaps alternative way of reflecting upon familiar works, opening them up to fresh readings.

The Catalogue
A fully illustrated catalogue, published by the Bank of Greece in both Greek and English, accompanies the exhibition. It includes an introductory essay by the exhibition’s co-curators (Charis Kanellopoulou, Eirini Orati, Konstantinos Papachristou), alongside contributions by the invited art historians and theorists, each focusing on one of the participating artists.

Parallel Events
Guided tours for the public will be offered by the curators (Charis Kanellopoulou, Eirini Orati), the exhibition curator (Konstantinos Papachristou), and guest art historians who contributed to the catalogue. Each month, a different pair of specialists will be announced.
In October, tours will feature art historian and curator Bia Papadopoulou, and art historian Spyros Moschonas.