Tuesday 29 August 2017

One of my favourite walks in Athens


One of my favourite walks in Athens is from Makrygianni to Thisio. We take the bus, get off  just before Syntagma and start walking. We did so last week, for the first time this summer.




I like this little side street because it always looks so cool and shady under all those Seville orange trees.





We very soon reached the side of the Museum of Acropolis, just by the Metro station.




Lots of cafeterias around here




We turned left at Dionysou Aeropagitou. The queue for the Acropolis was long




snaking around to the entrance




Lots of sellers of souvenirs on this stretch - this one is selling gold laurel wreaths, the kind that Olympic winners wore on their heads in Antiquity. We saw loads of those during our walk - I can't imagine people wanting to wear them, it's so corny, I guess it's the kind of tourist tat that one buys and then forgets about once back home.




A xylophone player




The Acropolis on our right




not sure what this guy was selling





We reached the main entrance of the Acropolis Museum




a better view of the Acropolis from here




One of the few Art Nouveau buildings that are left in Athens





detail




the entrance




This is such a relaxed walk




some beautiful buildings around here




I like this entrance, and its steps




no crowds anymore, which makes the walk so much more pleasant




another gorgeous building




and another




A reference to Documenta 14




an unusual little church







A good view from here of Mouseion Hill and the monument at its peak




The Philopappou Monument is an ancient Greek mausoleum dedicated to Taius Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Philopappos, a prince of the Kingdom of Commagene.





We have reached the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a stone theatre that was completed in 161 AD and then renovated in 1950. We have been to many performances here, the most memorable being a Mikis Theodorakis concert








This path leads to the second entrance to the Acropolis and I presume this is where all these people are going




We have now reached Apostolou Paulou Avenue




which will take us to Thisio.





The sanctuary of Pan. Excavations inside the underground chamber behind this entrance uncovered a relief chiselled directly on the bedrock depicting Pan, a naked Nymph and a dog. The cult of Pan in caves is well documented in the countryside of Attica during the 5th century BC.




Nice view of Lycabettus Hill from here





The church of St Marina and the Athens Observatory.





At this juncture we left the main road and turned into this side street




as we wanted to visit the Observatory where Adrian Villar Rojas' The Theatre of Disappearance exhibition is staged.





An hour and half later we retraced our steps back to Apostolou Paulou Avenue








turned right at the end of Avenue into Adrianou Street




and went to Kuzina for a delicious lunch.



Saturday 26 August 2017

Omada Techni at the Byzantine Museum



Omada Techni at the Byzantine Museum, Athens.





2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of Omada Techni, an artistic movement that is associated with the birth of modernism in Greece. The group was founded by Nikolaos Lytras.

This adoption of modernism resulted in the abandonment of traditional perspective, the adoption of an approach to space arranged in flat planes, and the replacing at times,  of strong colours with monochromatic planes since the blinding Greek light limits the colour range.

The influence of Impressionism is evident in a lot of the paintings we saw.




Konstantinos Parthenis, Portrait of Julia Parthenis, 1911-14




Theophrastos Triantaphyllides, Two Children on the Beach, 1919 (oil on canvas)




Theophrastos Triantaphyllides, Pushchair, 1919




Theophrastos Triantaphyllides, Girl on Faliro Beach, 1919






Perikles Byzantios, Parisian Bar, 1914-15, (oil on canvas)





Konstantinos Parthenis, Resurrection, 1917-19, (oil on canvas)






Pavlos Rodokanakis, Harmony, 1918-19, (oil on canvas)






Konstantinos Maleas, Laurio, 1918-19




Konstantinos Maleas, Dusk, 1908




Konstantinos Parthenis, Annunciation, 1910-11




Konstantinos Parthenis, Dream Landscape, 1907, (oil on cardboard)





Konstantinos Parthenis. Lake, Mist, 1900 (oil on canvas)




Pavlos Rodokanakis, The Song of the Water, 1918-19, (oil on canvas)




Lykourgos Kagevinas, The Port of Saint Tropez, 1914, (oil on canvas)





Lykourgos Kagevinas, Santorini, 1917, (oil on canvas)




Lykourgos Kagevinas, Santorini, 1915, (oil on canvas)





Lykourgos Kagevinas, Mega Spilaio, 1914, (oil on canvas)





Lykourgos Kogevinas, Monastery of Vatopedi, 1919, (oil on canvas)




Nikolaos Othonaios, Poros, 1917, (oil on canvas)




Nikolaos Othonaios, Island Courtyard, 1917, (oil on canvas)




Odysseas Fokas, Frozen Stream, 1907-10. (oil on canvas)




Nikolaos Othonaios, Landscape - Evening, 1917, (oil on canvas)




Gregorios Zevgolis, Bust of a Woman, 1919, (plaster)




Periklis Byzantios, The bar, 1919, (oil on canvas)




Othon Perbolarakis, 1917, (tempera on paper)






Nikolaos Lytras, Portrait of K.M. as a Child, 1914, (oil on canvas)





Othon Perbolarakis, Poppies, 1919, (tempera on paper)




Nikolaos Lytras, The Artist Umvertos Argyros, 1910, (oil on cardboard)