The GSA/Historical Archives – Museum of Hydra presents a landmark exhibition dedicated to Kostas Grammatopoulos (1916–2003), the artist who redefined modern Greek printmaking by imbuing it with painterly autonomy and color—the same artist who illustrated the historic first-grade primers and designed the current national emblem of the Hellenic Republic.

At the center is the monumental section “Aegean”: works in which light, form, and color do not depict the landscape but rather suggest it, filtered through abstraction and Cubism. Inner landscapes, one might say—a “different” image of Greece.

For Grammatopoulos, Hydra served as a precious refuge and source of inspiration, a fact reflected in the numerous depictions of the island in his work. The exhibition thus marks a “return”: the artist’s ethereal, primordial Aegean once again engages in dialogue with the island’s rocks, light, and maritime tradition.

Curated by: Εleanna Grammatopoulou