111 - NIKOS HADJIKYRIAKOS-GHIKA (1906-1994)

NIKOS HADJIKYRIAKOS-GHIKA (1906-1994) Intricate branches / Tree tops II signé et daté « Ghika 80» (en bas à gauche) huile sur papier 50 x 30,5 cm. (19.7 × 12.0 in.) Peint en 1980 oil on paper Footnotes: Provenance Private collection, Athens. Exhibitions Athens, Zoumboulakis Gallery, Ghika 1978-1981, April 8 - early May, 1981. Literature K.C. Valkana, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, His Painting Oeuvre, Benaki Museum edition, Athens 2011, fig. 510, p. 313 (catalogued and illustrated). Steeped in an atmosphere of subtlety and movement, this lacework of rhythmically orchestrated shapes immersed in a mellow atmosphere and captured in a glowing palette of seductive hues, reflects Ghika's aim in the early 1980s to break away from geometric abstraction and return to a freer, less formal expressive language: his outlines loosen up, the pictorial design becomes more fluent and colour looks fresher thanks to the adoption of lighter tones. Everything seems to participate in a paganistic feast of expressive colour and vibrant, pulsating form. 'Venturing beyond geometric rules you gain something else: more spontaneity and greater freedom.'1 As noted by Ghika himself, 'every artist who is by nature a colourist bears within him his own harmonies of colour, which are never exactly those of nature but those of his own ideal of nature. In my case, these harmonies are mainly composed of mauves, greys and pinks, but sun-drenched, sun-saturated colours that have at the same time preserved something of the brightness which might have been theirs in a less cruel light.'2 Discussing Ghika's paintings from around 1980, art historian K.C. Valkana noted that the wild nature of his earlier works is replaced by a verdant and blooming one conveying the joyful atmosphere of spring or summer, like his renowned Cretan gardens from 1950.3 Reviewing the artist's 1981 exhibition at the Zoumboulakis Gallery that featured Tree tops II, art critic H. Livas noted: 'Ghika is the most important Greek painter of the twentieth century, and in the current show he both continues with subjects and themes he has dealt with over the years, and adds something new. The end result is a fresh and tender view of nature, a nature more dreamlike and mellow than in the past, although still victorious ... It's hard to leave one Ghika painting and move on to the next.'4 1. Ghika interview to A. Grimani, 'Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, The Clock of Memories' [in Greek], Ena magazine, no.49, October 5, 1990, pp. 115-118. 2. E. Roditi, 'An Interview with Ghika', Charioteer quarterly, vol. 1, no. 2, Autumn 1960, p. 55. 3. See K.C. Valkana, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, His Painting Oeuvre [in Greek], Benaki Museum, Athens 2011, pp. 245-249. 4. H. Livas, Contemporary Greek Artists, Vantage Press, New York 1993, p. 19. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR AR Marchandises soumises au droit de suite de l'artiste payable par l'acheteur. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com