Inauguration of the Gallery of Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas

On Kriezotou Street No 3, one finds a modern apartment building built in 1932 for the naval officer Alexandros Hatzikyriakou (1874-1958) with the intention to become the Hatzikyriakos family house. It is a typical example of an architectural apartment building built in the style of the period between the two world wars. The original building was designed by architecture professor Konstantinos Kitsikis, an advocate of the apartment building, which he considered an ideal solution for the housing problem that was particularly pressing in downtown Athens' neighborhoods. Kitsikis was the founder of the first Building Regulation Code that introduced the concept of a retreating penthouse. Nikos Hadzikyriakos-Ghikas (1906 - 1994) also lived and worked in this family building for more than forty years.

But his vision was for part of the house to function as an art gallery. This was materialized after he bestowed the entire family residence on Kriezotou to the Benaki Museum, along with the furniture, especially the artwork in his workshop and on display on the fourth floor. The official inauguration took place in 1991 in the presence of, then President of the Republic, Konstantinos Karamanlis. The Benaki Museum undertook to continue the vision of Nikos Hadzikyriakos - Ghikas and in 2009, the restoration of the building was completed. Gradually, under the supervision of Angelos Delivorrias, Director of the Benaki Museum, it transformed into the first museum in the world to correlate all the cultural achievements (in literature, poetry, architecture, theatre, music, dance, photography, painting, engraving, and sculpture) from 1922 to the dawn of the dictatorship of 1967. So, the work of Nikos Hadzikyriakos - Ghikas converses with a panorama of the Greek cultural creation.

The "fragment" was added at the suggestion of Mrs. Vasiliki Poula.