Diary 2015
Fotis Kontoglou, “Whatever I did, I did in the name of simplicity”
In 2015, the Byzantine and Christian Museum is honouring the person and the work of Fotis Kontoglou (1895-1965) on the 50th anniversary of his death. A pioneering student of the Byzantine tradition, Kontoglou both lived Byzantine art and brought it to life, emerging as one of the most important Greek artists of the 20th century.
There are multiple links connecting Fotis Kontoglou (1895-1965) to the Byzantine & Christian Museum: he worked here during the nineteen thirties, studying Byzantine art and copying and conserving works, and was bound by a sincere bond of friendship to its director, Georgios Sotiriou, the renowned Byzantinist. In the context of this fruitful collaboration, the artist left several dozen works behind him in the Museum’s collections.
In February 2014, the Byzantine & Christian Museum was fortunate enough to be entrusted with the artist’s personal archive by the artist’s two grandsons, Panagiotis and Fotis Martinos. The handing over of the archive began in February 2014 and is expected to finish within 2015. The material will be sorted and digitized to maximize its accessibility to researchers, and the study of this large historical archive will contribute to our knowledge of the history of Modern Greek art and literature.
The Byzantine Museum is planning a series of exhibitions and events to present the full breadth of Fotis Kontoglou’s oeuvre and to spotlight hitherto unknown and unpublished aspects of his literary and artistic activities with a view to contributing to the study and interpretation of his work.
With the kind support of Mrs Eugenia Theochari In Memory of her sister,the Byzantinist Maria Theochari.
ACADEMIC SUPERVISION – TEXTS
Ioanna Alexandri – dr Terpsichori-Patricia Skotti
EDITOR
dr Jasmin Moysidou
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Michael Eleftheriou, dr Jasmin Moysidou
PHOTOGRAPHS
Giorgos Chras
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Yannis Stavrinos
DESIGN SUPPORT
Giorgos Soupios
PRINTING
MOUGOS - COMMUNICATION IN PRINT
