1. 1AR NIKOS HADJIKYRIAKOS-GHIKA (1906-1994) Art & décoration

Description

1. 1AR NIKOS HADJIKYRIAKOS-GHIKA (1906-1994) Interior Hydra - Jug and glass on table signé « Ghika» (en bas à droite) gouache sur papier 49 x 38,5 cm. (19.3 × 15.2 in.) Peint en 1951 Provenance Private collection, USA. Private collection, Athens. Literature K.C. Valkana, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, His Painting Oeuvre, Benaki Museum edition, Athens 2011, no. 182, p. 285 (catalogued and illustrated). Bathed in light and glittering like a Byzantine mosaic, this mesmerizing still life of silhouetted forms and rhythmic patterns speaks to us in an idiom of contentment and the joie de vivre, reflecting the artist's upbringing in an age-old tradition of dazzling light and pure colour. "I suppose that the colourist in me is the real Ghika, something that I derive from my Greek heritage, as opposed to all that I owe to Cubism and to the School of Paris."1 This display of enthrallment with colour, along with the linear arrangement of objects, the symmetry and rhythm of the composition and the projection of all elements into a uniform and evenly illuminated plane where everything is clearly shown, are akin to the pictorial world of folk art and reminiscent of the powerful immediacy and disarming sincerity of Theofilos's paintings. Moreover, on a deeper level, this work also displays an intricate lacework of sophistication, reflecting Ghika's fascination with still life's capacity for transcending time and space constraints, as well as moving across different levels of reality and artifice. As noted by art historian Y. Kolokotronis, "Ghika revitalises the still life genre, delving deeper than any other artist into its relationship with the surrounding environment."2 The mirror motif, which features prominently in Ghika's earlier cubist-like interior views and still lifes,3 plays a leading compositional role in expanding shallow space, while evoking a sense of mystery and contemplative introspection. 1 : E. Roditi, "An Interview with Ghika", Charioteer quarterly, vol. 1, no. 2, Autumn 1960, p. 56. 2 : Y. Kolokotronis, Still Life in Modern Greek Art from the 19th Century to Date [in Greek], doctoral dissertation, Athens 1992, p. 103. 3 : Compare Interior with mirror and vase, 1926, and Still life with vase, 1927 sold by Bonhams, Greek Sale, November 21, 2018, lots 4 and 5.