The Benaki Museum hosts Constantine (Dikos) Byzantios

Written by Paul Pedigo Saturday, 24 September 2011 21:43

Athens, Greece - The Benaki Museum hosts Constantine (Dikos) Byzantios (1924-2007), son of the painter Pericles Byzantios, was born in Athens. Since 1946 he lived and worked in Paris where he became a distinguished member of the École de Paris and associated a circle of eminent artists and intellectuals such as Alberto Giacometti, Eugène Ionesco, Michel Foucault, Cornelius Kastoriadis and Christian Zervos. On exhibition through 5 October, 2007.

Between 1954 and 1963 he orientated towards Abstraction, while in the 1970’s he turned to figurative art. For six years he focused exclusively on drawing, creating dramatic linear compositions which Michel Foucault described as “dark rays beaming towards the viewer with the impression of a white relief”. Since the 1980’s Byzantios has persisted in the return to the object and the human figure, liberating them –however- from the current aesthetics of the anecdotal and proposing a new visual space.

Established as a profoundly spiritual artist and an avant-garde creator, Byzantios – in suggesting a truth beyond realism has legitimized artistic reality by restoring it to the framework of the pure iconographic praxis.

 The Benaki Museum ranks among the great benefactions which have enriched the material assets of the Greek state. At the same time, it is the oldest museum in Greece, which functions as a Foundation under Private Law. Through its extensive collections covering several different cultural fields, as well as its more general range of activities which serve more than one social need, the Benaki Museum is perhaps the sole instance of a complex structure within the wider network of museum foundations in Greece. Visit The Benaki Museum at : www.benaki.gr/index-en.htm

THE FOUNDER - Antonis Benakis, scion of one of the leading families of the Greek diaspora, was born in Alexandria in 1873. He was witness to the vibrant tradition of national benefaction which, from the earliest years of Greek independence, was so clearly manifest amongst the Greek communities abroad. Benakis began his career as a collector in Alexandria, gradually reaching the decision to donate his collections to the Greek state, an idea which became reality after he settled permanently in Athens in 1926.

The nature of Antonis Benakis' benefaction becomes self-evident. Its most salient feature remains the fact that during his own lifetime Benakis donated the museum he created to the Greek state. Of equal importance was his continuous involvement, until his death in 1954, in enriching and improving the organization of the museum's holdings, and his role in ensuring its financial security.