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National Hellenic Museum Virtual Exhibitions

Introduction

Philhellenism on Canvas: The "Greek" Paintings of Alexander Mohr

2016.14.14 without frame.jpg

NHM Collection
2016.14.14

The paintings in this exhibition were donated to the National Hellenic Museum in 2006 by Ms. Lisa Papamarkou Jewell. Alexander Mohr, a German painter who spent most of his adult life in Athens, had been a family friend. The paintings in this collection are all emblematic of Mohr’s lifelong love affair with Greece, both its landscapes and people. They also offer a unique view of the ways in which the vaulted traditions of 18th-and 19th-century German Philhellenism survived and transformed as it wound its way through the 20th century. The paintings are representative of the German Expressionist movement, a significant modern art movement that also bridges the gap between the 19th and 20th centuries.

As you look through the exhibition, take some time to think of the ways in which traditions, values, and aesthetics survive, adapt, and transform over decades, and even centuries, and take a moment to contemplate the adaptable and enduring legacy of Hellenism, in all its various forms.