On April 26, 2026, the Alekos Fassianos Museum celebrated its second anniversary. The museum hosts some of the artist’s significant works, aiming to showcase the breadth of his creations to the public. The museum today is housed in Fassianos’ childhood home, originally built in the 1930s. In 1995, in collaboration with renowned architect and friend Kyriakos Krokos, Fassianos fully remodeled the family home.

Building courtyard, Alekos Fassianos Museum. Photo: Peny Zerva

The Story of the Place

The original house was a small neoclassical home with a tiled roof and an inner courtyard. Fassianos’ family moved there because his grandfather had been appointed priest at the nearby church of Saint Paul. In the 1970s, while Fassianos was living in Paris, his mother decided to demolish the house and replace it with an apartment building to house her children in the future. Fassianos was dissatisfied with the architectural and aesthetic result, and in the late 1980s, he asked Kyriakos Krokos to help redesign the building to include a small exhibition space on the ground floor. This initiative planted the seed for what would later become the Alekos Fassianos Museum.

Growing up in that neighborhood greatly influenced Fassianos’ later work. His art borrows imagery from his old neighborhood — street vendors like the milkman, the chestnut seller, the cobbler, and the pretzel seller — and captures experiences from everyday urban life.

The fact that his works are now displayed in a space so emotionally significant to him, and one he personally curated in close collaboration with the architect, makes the museum a global rarity — one of the few museums where there is such a close dialogue between the space and the exhibits.

View of the ground floor, Alekos Fassianos Museum. Photo: Peny Zerva

Alekos Fassianos (1935–2022)

Alekos Fassianos was born on 25th October, 1935, in Athens. He initially studied violin at the Athens Conservatory and later painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts under Yiannis Moralis (1956–1960). He was interested in ancient Greek vase painting and Byzantine iconography, and he took lessons at Yiannis Tsarouchis’ workshop, who became a major inspiration for his later work.

Following a scholarship from the French government, Fassianos moved to Paris in 1960 to study lithography at the École des Beaux-Arts. He returned to Athens in 1963 and, along with architect Antonis Kepetzis and artists Vasilis Sperantzas and Nikos Stefanos, set up a shared studio in a house, provided by the National Gallery, in Kallithea. It was there, in the so-called ‘Kallithea Studio,’ that Fassianos painted his first Smoking Cyclist. At the same time, he frequented the Athenian café ‘Brazilian,’ mingling with intellectuals and artists such as Odysseas Elytis, Miltos Sachtouris, and Andreas Embirikos, who encouraged him to create a series of cyclists with flowing hair.

In 1967, due to the military dictatorship in Greece, he moved permanently to Paris. There, he met famous art dealer Paul Facchetti, beginning a collaboration that allowed him to exhibit alongside artists like Jean-Paul Riopelle and Georges Mathieu. In the 1970s, he was represented by the gallerist Alexander Iolas, and his work was shown in galleries across Paris, New York, Switzerland, and Milan.

Fassianos’ works were exhibited internationally — in Malmö, Tokyo, Zurich, Berlin, Milan, and New York. In 1983, a solo exhibition of his work was organized at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in collaboration with the magazine Revue Parlée. Two years later, his first retrospective was held at the Château de Chenonceau in France. He subsequently participated in numerous exhibitions and prestigious events, such as the Venice and São Paulo Biennales.

Fassianos was a multi-faceted artist who also actively engaged in writing, poetry, ceramics, set design, furniture design, and architecture, and illustrated many publications. He had a strong interest in design, creating furniture, lamps, and practical objects for his own space. He was honored as an Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, was awarded the rank of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by French Minister Frédéric Mitterrand, and in 2021 was appointed Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by France’s Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin.

Corner at the Alekos Fassianos Museum with handmade furniture. Photo: Peny Zerva

The Exhibition

The exhibition presents works spanning from 1954 to the end of Fassianos’ life. It includes early works from the 1960s and his Paris years, as well as the widely recognized pieces featuring his characteristic style. The influence of Byzantine art is evident, as Fassianos once said:
“From a very young age, because of my grandfather, I roamed the dimly lit post-Byzantine churches, sometimes helping him with the censer, sometimes reading the Apostle. But more than the religious part, I was drawn to the images — the Byzantine and folk ones. Even now, what I paint carries flaming swords like the Byzantine saints. But they are otherworldly creatures of my own imagination, as born from those dark churches.”

Visitors will admire not only his paintings but also handmade furniture and lighting, as well as an extensive archive of personal photographs, texts, illustrated books, set designs, and costume sketches for theatre productions.

The exhibition unfolds through three spaces: the ground floor reception area, the mezzanine or ‘painting studio’ (zografion), and the basement.

• Ground Floor: Features a selection of Fassianos’ paintings from 1954 until the end of his life. Among the early works, The Abduction of Helen (1966) stands out. Paintings such as The Serenade, The Parade, and The Café Dwellers evoke the artist’s childhood neighbourhood.

The café regulars, Alekos Fassianos. Photo: Peny Zerva

• Mezzanine (‘Zografion’): This more personal, atelier-like space houses some of his iconic works and self-designed furniture and objects. Among the paintings are Cyclist on a Balcony (1985) and The City (2000), showcasing Fassianos’ recognizable style. Personal items, such as a chest with tools and mementos, a handmade shrine with relics from his grandfather, and a childhood shadow puppet theatre, are displayed. A central glass case — named ‘the painting studio’ — features drawings, illustrations, letters, and photos of Fassianos with fellow artists and intellectuals like Louis Aragon, Giorgio de Chirico, Alexander Iolas, Kostas Tachtsis, Costas Gavras, and Yiannis Tsarouchis.

Glass case ῾The painting studio῾, Alekos Fassianos Museum. Photo: Peny Zerva

• Basement: Focuses on works inspired by Greek mythology, such as Circe and Odysseus (1995), where Fassianos experimented with Byzantine techniques, applying gold leaf on canvas. Heroes from his childhood blend with mythological figures in his work. Pieces like The First Couple in Their Room (2000) and Hermes on His Bicycle portray figures from the Old Testament and antiquity as everyday people. Some blue-themed works, like Untitled (1963) and Phryne with Birds (1986), show how his depiction of the human figure evolved over time.

Works by Alekos Fassianos, from left to right: Hermes on His Bicycle, The Silver One (1969), The King of the Garden (1966), The Smoker (1967 & 2007), The Wooden Horse. Photo: Peny Zerva

The Myth of His Neighbourhood

In Fassianos’ museum work, the human figure dominates, recurring in images like cyclists and smokers. Still life appears too, though less frequently. His beloved motifs — flowing hair and scarves, checkerboard tiles, and wheat stalks — emerge throughout the exhibition. The handmade furniture and objects, along with a video featuring the artist, allow visitors to connect deeply with Alekos Fassianos and experience his creative urge to stamp his personal touch on everything around him.

Visiting the museum offers a wonderful opportunity to discover the multifaceted personality of Alekos Fassianos through the many types of works he created — all within a space he loved and curated himself.

Closing with a quote from Fassianos:
“Amidst the grand, important, and dazzling things, my mind always returns to the corner of my house — the low house with the little courtyard, with the red and white tiles — and it is always there that my mind and my memories linger. I will never forget it. That is my dream. That is the myth of my neighbourhood, because everything begins from the small and the overlooked. The myth of my neighbourhood will follow me everywhere, just like Cavafy’s city.”

Alekos Fassianos Museum. Photo: Peny Zerva

Alekos Fassianos Museum
15 Neofytou Metaxa & Chios Street, Athens

Opening Hours:
Wednesday – Friday: 11 am – 4 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11 am – 3 pm
& By Appointment

Until next time!!!
Design geek in Athens