A Cologne collection for the Greek Revolution

Some of us older at Deutsche Welle knew Michalis Krasakis as a colleague. He retired from the Greek service, where he worked from 1975, in 2001. We also knew that he was involved in the collection of works of art. But until there. Nothing could have predicted the good news that the exhibition of part of the collection of Tina and Michalis Krasakis with works related to the Greek Revolution will be inaugurated on October 30 by the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou at the Municipal Gallery of Chania. According to the organizers, “This is the largest event held in Crete in the context of the celebrations since the 200th anniversary of the proclamation of the Greek Revolution.”

The two collectors are low-key and for the first time present works from their collection to the public. In a conversation with Michalis Krasakis, he told us that it is very difficult to separate the works he has been collecting for five decades. He had no reason to do so, he says. However, the fact that this exhibition in Chania would have an important educational character and many schools from all over Greece would visit it, convinced him that for some months it was worth parting with them.

The collection started from a bazaar in Cologne

It is a collection that started from a bazaar in the central square of Cologne, Neumarkt, in the early 1970s and its enrichment continued mainly through auctions around the world. “In this square there was an open-air antique bazaar that caught my attention. There I bought some things I liked, two engravings, a beautiful hand mirror and a bronze statuette. After this first experience I started looking for objects of past centuries that fascinated me without knowing why. Curiosity to get to know better, to learn more about a work of art that attracts one, without first knowing the reason, is the first step to then start to deal intensively with things one likes. This happened to me as well “, says Michalis Krasakis.

The collection is based in Cologne. Michalis Krasakis is originally from Heraklion, Crete and when at some point he showed some works to friends of historians, they told him that he should share the works with the public, not only because of their rarity but also because “they also have a historicity. Forty, fifty pages could be written for some of them “, he emphasizes.

Rare works by great creators

More than a hundred exhibits will be presented at the Municipal Gallery of Chania. Paintings, sculptures, watercolors, drawings, authentic costumes, jewelry, weapons of 1821 and valuable editions from all over Europe. “However, the backbone of the exhibition consists of 100 paintings by great Russian, Danish, French and other 19th century painters. However, special attention has been paid to the works of German artists such as Peter von Hess and Karl Rothmann, who by order of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto’s father, had come to Greece and depicted many landscapes, monuments and figures of the Greek revolution as well as ethnographic scenes and war episodes of 1821. Also, we will show the original watercolors with scenes from Greece of 1834, which are of great historical importance, since they come from the hand of the German painter Ludwig Kellnberger and are the only -in the world- which are in a private collection “, says Michalis Krasakis.

In addition, works by very important Greek painters will be presented, such as Nikiforos Lytras, Theodoros Vryzakis, 6 paintings by Nikolaos Gyzis, the only known bronze sculpture of his son, Telemachos Gyzis, Umbertos Argyros, as well as works by the great Greek -Karavias, Vikatos, Gyalinas, Mathiopoulos, Tsirigotis and many others.

The exhibition will last until March 2022. When asked if there are plans for the exhibition to be presented elsewhere after its completion in Chania, Michalis Krasakis answered that there are already requests from Athens and elsewhere, but it is still early to announce something officially.

source: DW.