The Benaki Museum presents the illustrated work of Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika.

The exhibition ‘Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Gikas. Painting for Books’ will open on Wednesday 18 April at the Gikas Gallery of the Benaki Museum, as part of the events for ‘Athens – World Book Capital 2018’. ‘...Our gatherings at Ikaros were once interrupted, towards the end, our dear Alekos Patsifas, and then Katsimbalis would drag us off to a table at Zonar, where we would drink the nectar provided by Nikos Karidis’s bookshop,” writes N. Hatzikyriakos-Gikas in his piece on the 50th anniversary of Ikaros.The books illustrated by the great painter are now classics and reflect the relationships between the creators, as well as the atmosphere of that era. Nikos Hatzikyriakos – Gikas was systematically involved in illustrating texts from 1937 to 1992. He produced book covers, frontispieces and illustrations, mainly for works of poetry. Literary magazines such as ‘Nea Estia’, "Morphes" and "Aixoni" were published with works by Gikas as their cover or frontispiece, whilst he fully illustrated "The Poems of Cavafy", Kazantzakis’s "The Odyssey", Loggos’s *Daphne and Chloe*, and Nikos Gatsos’s *Amorgos*. Added to these are many individual covers and frontispieces for books and poetry collections, such as those by Odysseas Elytis, Lito Katakouzino, Margarita Lyberaki and others. The exhibition offers the public the opportunity to engage with both painting and literature, whilst also providing an opportunity to study older editions and discover the rich body of illustrative work by the great Greek painter, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika. Curated by: Ioanna Moraiti Exhibition design: Pavlos Thanopoulos Exhibition dates: 19/04/2018 – 21/07/2018 Gika Gallery | 3 Kriezotou Street, 106 71 Athens Further information at http://bit.ly/2pQnMRU