Τhe work of one of the most significant artists of the European avant-garde of the 20th century and his creative encounter with the Greek world is being presented for the first time in Greece, in the exhibition “Alexis Gritchenko (1883–1977). The Greek Adventure. A Ukrainian Avant-gardist in Greece”, at MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection, from 22 November 2025 until 30 April 2026.

Born in Ukraine and educated in Kyiv and St. Petersburg alongside avant-garde artists, Alexis Gritchenko was a painter and art theorist who combined the power of Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism with the spirituality of Byzantine art. Through his theory of “Chromodynamism”, in which color expresses energy and inner spirituality, Gritchenko developed a distinct visual language that bridges East and West.

His stay in Greece between 1921 and 1923 proved decisive for his artistic development. He traveled through Athens, Mystras, Delphi, Olympia, Crete, Thessaloniki and the islands, capturing nature and monuments under the dazzling Mediterranean light. In the works of this period, the Greek landscape is transformed into rhythmic cubist forms, where the spirit of antiquity and the Byzantine tradition converse with modernism. The two exhibitions he held in Athens - at the Parnassos Literary Society (1921) and the Byzantine and Christian Museum (1922) - impressed both audiences and critics, who made special mention of his explosive use of color and the rhythmic structure of his compositions.

The exhibition at the MOMus-Museum of Modern Art – Costakis Collection brings together, among others, a significant number of works from his Greek period, drawn from museums and private collections in Ukraine, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Turkey and Greece, presented alongside earlier and later works of the artist. The exhibition underscores the pivotal role of Greece as a milestone in the formation of Gritchenko's personal style.

The realization of the exhibition was made possible thanks to the generous contribution of the collector Michel Lièvre-Markovitch and Malabart Gallery LTD, London, which holds the largest private collection of Gritchenko's works, as well as through the invaluable assistance of Natalia Butterwick in the gathering and documentation of the rich catalogue material, and the scientific collaboration of art historian Vita Susak.

The exhibition“Alexis Gritchenko (1883–1977). The Greek Adventure. A Ukrainian Avant-gardist in Greece”seeks to restore the Ukrainian avanguardist to his rightful place in the history of Greek art, highlighting a creator who, through light and color, succeeded in transforming the Mediterranean into a new, modern visual language.

Institutions, museums, and private collectors participating in the exhibition and catalogue with loans:

Michel Lièvre-Markovitch, London – Athens
Malabart Gallery LTD, London
The Ukrainian Museum, New York
Gallery LLC“Malyarstvo,” Lviv
National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens
Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine, Lviv
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, USA
Alexander Demko and Gizella Lopusanszky, New York
Ömer Koç, Istanbul
Olexei Kurylyshin, Lviv

Daniel Sztul, Paris

Exhibition curators
Michel Lièvre-Markovitch, Maria Tsantsanoglou

Scientific advisor
Vita Susak

Catalogue editor
Maria Tsantsanoglou

Catalogue materials coordinator
Natalia Butterwick

Assistant curator
Angeliki Charistou

CV

Alexis Gritchenko (Krolevets, now Ukraine, 1883 – Vence, France, 1977) was a Ukrainian painter and art theorist whose work fused Byzantine tradition with modernist aesthetics. He initially studied philology and biology at the universities of Kyiv, St. Petersburg, and Moscow before turning to art. A visit to Paris in 1911 awakened his enthusiasm for modern art, particularly Cubism, and his subsequent travels to Italy in 1913–14 inspired him to merge the spatial and chromatic principles of early Renaissance painting with the spiritual and formal qualities of Byzantine art. His theoretical writings explored the relationship between Byzantine and modern art, analyzing the stylistic and structural affinities between the two. After the 1917 Revolution, Gritchenko became a professor at the Free Art Studios (Svomas) in Moscow and served on the Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments. Although offered the directorship of the Tretyakov Gallery in 1919, he chose instead to leave Russia, traveling via Crimea to Istanbul and abandoning his possessions in Moscow. In April 1921 he moved to Greece, where he lived there for long periods until October 1923 and held two exhibitions in Athens: at the“Parnassos” Literary Society (1921) and the Byzantine and Christian Museum (1922). In these, he presented a vision of Greece that departed from classical ideals: ancient ruins, churches, and landscapes reimagined through sharp Cubist planes and radiant, spiritual color. He settled permanently in France in October 1923, exhibiting in major galleries and traveling widely across Europe and the United States until his death in Vence, near Nice, in 1977.

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