Charles Howard: The Greek Summer

Craving a summer top up? Head along to bathe in the light-soaked paintings of Charles Howard at a solo showcase hosted by the Melina Mercouri Cultural Centre. Howard’s eloquent contemporary canvases of ripened female forms, in splendid harmony with Greek landscapes of sapphire seas and bare mountains, will have you longing for your next Greek island vacation. 

Take note of the way the artist deifies the features of his fabulous women; treating their faces like part of the exotic terrain around them; amplifying their cat’s eyes and brightly stained lips.  

Born in London in 1936, Howard once nurtured dreams of being an actor and fled school at 15 to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. But Greece beckoned - as it has to countless creative souls before him -and by the mid-1970s, he had settled permanently here with his wife and young family.  A self-taught artist, Howard left acting to spend his summers painting in their one-room house in Skyros and in the winters teaching and painting in Athens. 

Sadly, this vibrant artist whose fecund works pulsate with so much life and positivity, died in September of this year (2021), leading to this tribute exhibition to celebrate his much-loved work with fans old and new.

Says The Greek Summer curator Christoforos Marinos: “If there is one thing to keep in mind from Howard's paintings, it is love: the love for Greece, the love for specific people, places and cities, like the enchanting Istanbul in which he [also] lived for a long time; finally the love for life.”

“With this exhibition, Greece reciprocates his love.”

*Covid restrictions apply. Check event link for details.