The new presentation of the National Gallery-Museum of Alexandros Soutsos' permanent collection on the third floor will be inaugurated in the second half of 2025, Director Syrago Tsiara said on Friday.
At a press conference at the National Gallery's 'Onassis Foundation' Auditorium and in the presence of Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, Tsiara presented the museum's plans for 2024-2025.
In 2025, the National Gallery will focus on the following, she said: use, documentation, and exhibition of permanent collections in a modern manner; individual and group exhibitions in a program that connects the past with the future; deepening and expanding the educational program, developing critical reflection and emotional cultivation; expanding extroversion and strengthening further the Ntional Gallery's position in Greece and abroad.
During the press conference, Tsiara also announced that the Hans Arp Institute, which houses and manages the work of the Alsatian sculptor, painter, and poet Hans (Jean) Arp and Swiss national Sophie Taeuber-Arp, has donated to the National Gallery 21 plaster casts by Arp. The gift to the Gallery with works of a leading artist enriches its collections while it confirms the international stature of the museum, Culture Minister Mendoni commented.
Goya, Tetsis, Kostakis collection
Upcoming activities for 2025 include an exhibition of 80 etchings on paper and watercolour by Francisco Goya, part of the 'Los Caprichos' series dated to 1797-1798, that belong to the Gallery. The Gallery's series is the only one to be publicized during Goya's life. It was printed in 1803 and bought in 1962 during the directorship of Marinos Kalligas. The exhibit will run from December 2024 to September 2025, and is curated by Katerina Tavantzi.
Among other exhibits planned for the coming year is a retrospective on the 100th anniversary of the birth of painter Panagiotis Tetsis. The retrospective will include nearly 110 paintings and 50 etchings from the artist's donations to the National Gallery, private donors, and collections of organizations. The exhibition will run from April to September 2025, and is curated by Efi Agathonikou.
The Gallery will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first exhibition of works from the Greek Russian collector Georgios Kostakis at the National Gallery in December 1995, curated by Anna Kafetsi. Titled "Nature, City, Universe: Works from the Kostakis collection at MOMus/Museum of Modern Art" in Thessaloniki, it will include nearly 250 works by Russian avant-garde artists (1910-1930) and other objects from his archives. The exhibition will be inaugurated at the National Gallery in November 2025, curated by Maria Tsantsanoglou and Syrago Tsiara.
For more information, see the museum's official site: https://www.nationalgallery.gr/en/ (in English).