Hydra landscape , 1963-1967 CRAXTON ESTATE Our country is an ispiration !
The British painter who loved Greece
An anarchist spirit who only wanted to paint - The works of the philhellene painterwho loved the light of Greeceare coming to the Benaki Museum .
Because of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the painter John Craxton ( 1922-2009 ), the Benaki Museum hosts a special exhibition dedicated to his life and work .
The artist ’ s story , full of optimism reflected in his exquisite paintings , records an epic journey from darkness to light . Craxton ’ s life was full of magic . Gifted with extraordinary talent , he lived for enjoyment , imprinting it in his paintings .
A descendant of a large , music-loving and bohemian London family with a wide social circle , Craxton was an anarchist who only wanted to paint - and learned through his eyes . He discovered the work of El Greco and Picasso while he was still a teenager and loved ancient Greek art in the museums he often visited . But what he dreamed of was a life full of light .
He took the first step on his journey south to sketch in Paris in 1939 but was forced to return to England due to the impending Second World War . He was trapped there for six years and became known as an eccentric child prodigy of art .
He preferred to paint ordinary people - shepherds with their families , sailors , and soldiers - with whom he enjoyed spending time .
Thanks to his personal charm , he managed to board a fighter plane with the wife of the British ambassador to Greece and landed in Athens in the spring of 1946 . During the following decades , he explored the Aegean and surrendered to his captivity .
From the moment he arrived in the country until his death , almost all of his work praised the life , light and landscapes of Greece .
Before the advent of mass tourism , John Craxton enjoyed the survival of the mythical element in the daily life of the Greek countryside , which seemed unchanged from the years of Homer .
BY ANAST . STAMELLOU-VAS . KOTSOVOLOU
Water is a serious issue nowadays , yet other problem have to be dealt with : war is one of them ...
It ’ s been a while since the war in Ukraine started . We all hoped it would be over by now . Apparently , it hasn ’ t . Above all , the first thing that comes to my mind are the thousands of lives that have been destroyed . Within a day , the citizens of Ukraine stopped being worried about everyday problems . They started thinking about survival . All the goods that they had taken for granted are precious for them now .
The war in Ukraine
Problems thought impossible to be solved , have been replaced by even greater ones that they cannot handle .
Those thousands of people just keep asking : “ Why ?” It is so complicated to explain that they are not in charge of their lives , as they should be . It is terrifying to imagine that others ’ decisions could affect your life so deeply . That other people ’ s selfishness could force you to abandon your home , your family , your country . That they make you live with the fear of losing even more the next day ….
EVA SIATOU 8A IS WRITING HER THOUGHTS ABOUT IT .
IN THE ENGLISH LESSON
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