1821 in Painting

“Our heroes are dying, and their offspring shall seek in vain heroic and patriotic inspiration in their features. Our history needs to be written; you will bring it to life through your images.”

Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis made this impassioned entreaty to Greece’s artists back in 1844; lest the heroic figures of the 1821 Greek War of Independence fade from history without their proper due. 

Greek painters – and Hellenophiles too - rallied to the call. Now, you can trace on canvas that pivotal journey from bloodied battleground to hard-won liberation from four centuries of Ottoman rule at this milestone exhibition, staged to mark the grand reopening of the nation’s most important art gallery, opposite the Hilton Athens, in Pangrati. 

The temporary exhibition, to be on display on the ground floor of the sleek new expanded gallery until the end of the year, brings together the most iconic art works inspired by the Greek Revolution: such as Theodoros Vryzakis’ “Greece Expressing Gratitude” and Georgios Margaritis’ “Advances on the Acropolis”.

Don’t stop there though. The gallery’s remaining two floors will take you on a mesmerising and colour-soaked chronological trip through the most formative works of modern Greek art; dating from the post-Byzantine era and early Greek Impressionism to contemporary pop art, avant garde sculptures and multi-media installations.