The pivotal work of one of the 20th century’s most important European avant-garde artists, Alexis Gritchenko (1883–1977), is being showcased for the first time in Greece in a major exhibition titled "Alexis Gritchenko. The Greek Adventure. A Ukrainian Pioneer in Greece."

The exhibition at the MOMus–Museum of Modern Art–Kostakis Collection in Thessaloniki illuminates a crucial period of the Ukrainian painter’s artistic journey: his transformative two-year sojourn in Greece between 1921 and 1923.

The Pioneer of Chromodynamism

Born in Krolevets, in present-day Ukraine, Alexis Gritchenko began his artistic life after training in Kyiv and Saint Petersburg among prominent avant-garde circles. A painter and influential art theorist, Gritchenko developed a unique visual language that sought to bridge Eastern and Western aesthetics.

His style masterfully combined the raw energy of modernist movements like Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism with the profound spiritual force of the Byzantine tradition. This synthesis was formalized in his theory of "chromodynamism," a concept where color is used as a tool to express energy and inner spirituality, moving beyond mere representation to embody a rhythmic dynamism.

The Defining Years in Greece (1921–1923)

Gritchenko's stay in Greece proved decisive for his career. Having traveled extensively through Athens, Mystras, Delphi, Olympia, Crete, Thessaloniki, and the islands, he immersed himself in the dazzling Mediterranean light and the layered history of the landscape.

The works from this period reveal a landscape transformed: ancient monuments and natural settings are broken down into rhythmic cubist forms. In his paintings, the spirit of antiquity and the Byzantine heritage engage in a vibrant dialogue with modernism, synthesizing the Mediterranean into a new, contemporary visual language. This encounter highlights Greece's significant role as a milestone in the formation of Gritchenko's mature personal style.

The Exhibition Scope

The Thessaloniki exhibition, which runs from November 22, 2025, to April 30, 2026, brings together a significant number of rare works from this pivotal Greek period. The pieces have been generously loaned from museums and private collections across Ukraine, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Turkey, and Greece, presented alongside earlier and later works by the artist.

The curators' aim is to restore the Ukrainian avant-gardist to his rightful place in the history of Greek art, showcasing a creator who, through the expressive power of light and color, managed to forge a powerful aesthetic link between tradition and the European avant-garde.