Greek President inaugurated the new Basil and Elise Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday, turning a dream into reality.
Mr Pavlopoulos stressed the need to safeguard the operation of this significant museum and referred to the enormous and multifaceted work of Basil and Elise Goulandris, as well as their contribution to art. He pointed out that Basil Goulandris is a brilliant example of a Greek who succeeded in his economic and business activities and offered much to his country. In particular, the president stressed hat Goulandris had followed and successfully extended the unique tradition of shipowners, who has contributed greatly to laying the foundations for Greek shipping to take over the world, while at the same time strengthening the national economy.
Vision
The museum’s mission, as envisioned by its founders, is for everyone to have access to unique works of art created by some of the world’s most important modern artists, including many Greek masters.The new museum has been designed with the purpose of housing the founders’ private art collection, featuring rare works by artists such as Cézanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, Degas, Rodin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Picasso, Braque, Léger, Miró, Giacometti, Balthus, and others, as well as works by Greek modernists including Parthenis, Bouzianis, Vassiliou, Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, Tsarouchis, Moralis and Tetsis. Among the exhibits is an extremely valuable 16th painting by El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos).
Speaking at the Press Conference held ahead of the museum’s grand opening, Kyriakos Koutsomallis, Director of the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation, stated that the team behind the museum have aspired to create a place “open to everyone”, a place where ideas, views and opinions interact with each other, as per the original founders’ wishes.
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Museum grounds
The building consists of 11 floors – five of which below ground – with a total surface of 7,250 square metres. Five floors are used as exhibition areas; the permanent collection is housed in four of the above ground floors (with a total surface area of 1,124 sq.m.) while one of the underground floors (with a 530 sq.m. surface area) will be hosting temporary exhibitions by Greek and foreign artists.There is also a museum shop, where visitors will be able to purchase publications by the Foundation and other publishing houses as well as gifts, and a café-restaurant on the mezzanine floor. The underground areas also house a library with around 4,500 volumes, a children’s workshop, which will host educational programmes and art classes, and a state-of-the-art, 190-seat amphitheatre, which will host events such as lectures, conferences, seminars, screenings, performances, concerts and more.
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History of the venue
Greek shipowner Basil Goulandris and his wife Elise established the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979. Sharing a passionate love for the arts, especially painting, their aim was to create a series of cultural institutions; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Andros, Goulandris’ birthplace, was established in 1979. It was the first Contemporary Art Museum in Greece and its core were the works of Andriot sculptor Michalis Tombros, while items from the Goulandris private collection were soon added.In 1986 the museum’s New Wing was inaugurated, with the purpose of hosting temporary exhibitions of international stature. The Goulandris Foundation had also funded the construction of the Archaeological Museum of Andros, founded in 1981. In 1992 the couple announced their intention to open up the rest of their private collection to the public in a museum in the centre of Athens, but their plans were met with a series of setbacks, starting with the difficulty of finding a suitable space in a convenient location. The deaths of Basil in 1994 and Elise in 2000 added further complications due to legal disputes over their inheritance, since they left no children.
In 2012 works were finally able to start on a listed three-story residence of the interwar period in Pagrati. The building was fully renovated and a modern extension was added; although the differences between the old and the new buildings are visible from the exterior, not only a harmonious balance is created, but the interior areas merge seamlessly into each other, giving the visitor the impression of a continuous room. The Goulandris Foundation also funded the renovation of the whole public square where the new museum is situated. The construction was completed in October 2018.