Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas (Greek: Νίκος Χατζηκυριάκος-Γκίκας; February 26, 1906 – September 3, 1994), also known as Nikos Ghika, was a leading Greek painter, sculptor, engraver, writer and academic. He was a founding member of the Association of Greek Art Critics, AICA-Hellas, International Association of Art Critics.
He studied ancient and Byzantine art as well as folk art due to his adoration for the Greek landscape. During his youth he was exposed in Paris to the avant-garde European artistic trends and he gained recognition as the leading Greek cubist artist.
His aim was to focus on the harmony and purity of Greek art and to deconstruct the Greek landscape and intense natural light into simple geometric shapes and interlocking planes.
His works are featured in the National Gallery (Athens), the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Tate Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum of New York and in private collections worldwide.
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Biography
Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas was born in Athens on 26 February 1906. His father, the admiral Alexandros Hadjikyriakos, and his mother Princess Eleni Ghika both played an important role in the Greek War of Independence of 1821. In his teens (1918–1922) his family recognised the potential of his talent and arranged for him to study painting with the artist Parthenis. He additionally would spend his summers in his house in Hydra (island), where, between the years of 1935-1940 and 1945-1961 he would create some of his most important and critically acclaimed works. In 1922 he enrolled in a Sorbonne University course for French literature and aesthetics, where he simultaneously attended more and more the Académie Ranson, studying painting and engraving. He first exhibited his artwork when he was 17 in 1923 at the Société des Artistes Indépendants (Salon des Indépendants) and not long afterwards took part in several group exhibits at the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon des surindépendants. What's more, the french press and french magazines often wrote about his work. In 1927 he had his first one-man show at Gallerie Percier. Picasso himself noticed and commented on the works of the young Greek artist. The following year in 1928 he held his first exhibition in Athens alongside sculptor Michael Tombros.