Thessaloniki as travelers saw it in the 19th and 20th centuries
A portrait of Thessaloniki before industry and rampant housing development took over is the theme of an exhibition of original oil paintings, watercolors and drawings by European artists who came as travelers and painted the landscape of the port before motorized vehicles took over. This watercolor by Charles Fourverry, «In the Port of Thessaloniki, 20th Century,» is filled with noisy movement and burly characters, among whom today’s Thessaloniki residents would have a hard time recognizing their ancestors. The Kalfayan family, father, mother and sons, are all collectors and gallery owners. Karabet and Anais Kalfayan and their sons Rouben and Arsen run galleries in Thessaloniki and in Athens’s Kolonaki district. This collection differs from other exhibitions of travelers’ art, where the works are usually from illustrated books. These original works, exhibited as part of the Aghios Dimitrios Festival, are accompanied by an illustrated catalog compiled by Fani-Maria Tsingakou, curator of the Benaki Museum’s painting and engravings department, and who also curated this exhibit in Thessaloniki, still beautiful and lively.
