Stratis Eleftheriadis, was born in Mytilene, Lesvos, in May 1897 and passed away in Paris in October 1983. At the age of 18 he abandons Lesvos in order to live in Paris, where he studied law. Nevertheless, he never stops thinking of painting, on the contrary he has turned towards delving deeper into it, and so he is gradually established as an art critic. At a time that the so called “modern art”, was at its beginning, Tériade was tightly connected with its establishers and pioneers. This collaboration was active and definite and included well established editors of the time, such Christian Zervos, Albert Skira, Maurice Reynal etc. in review, book and newspaper publishing, concerning art. Thanks to these collaborations and thanks to the long term experience he acquired, his name not only became known, but also world widely respected. In addition to his active participation in the domain of editing as an art critic, Tériade started publishing art books that drew worldwide attention and reputation, because of their originality and unique quality. At the age of forty, in his effort to create the most beautiful magazine of the world, as he, himself said, he recruits all the knowledge and experience he had gathered all these years and creates VERVE. The title of this review is closely related to its content, in its form and design as well as substance. Tériade benefits from the favourable conditions of his times. He was the man that comprehended the importance of modern art and stood by the young creators and befriended them. So a great number of leading people of art, at the take off of their creativity are assisted by the economical and social coincidences, thus they are working with persistence and freedom. So brilliant was the outcome, that the official French state organized an "Hommage a Tériade", in the series of great retrospective exhibitions, at the Grand Palais. This was the exhibition with the prototypes of the illustrations that later was travelled to London, Madrid and Tokyo. It is the same exhibition that nowadays is permanently settled in the museum bearing the name of its donator: Stratis Eleftheriadis-Tériade built right beside the fatherly house. Without taking into consideration the expenses, Tériade wanted to offer to each visitor the possibility to taste his work. With the donation of the “Theophilos” museum as well as the “Tériade” museum-library and their priceless collections, he has created in Mytilene, his homeland, a unique spot of culture. The museum-library of Stratis Eleftheriadis- Tériade has opened its doors to the public in August 1979. It is a two floor building and has ten galleries on each floor. It is one of a kind and reserves to the visitor wanderings and spiritual voyages as well as great visual satisfaction. It roofs, safeguards and presents the entire publishing work of its establisher, Stratis Eleftheriadis- Tériade, this unique, inspired man and artist. In the galleries of this museum, the visitor can admire engravings of worldly wised painters of the 20th century, as well as paintings by acknowledged Greek artists, such as Tsarouchis, Vakirtzis, Canellis, Charalambidis and many more. The artwork of Theophilos, the great popular artist whose outstanding skill was identified and valued as a genuine representative of popular part, also occupies a great part of this collection. In the presentation of this artwork, one can see the effort and the inspiration of the creator participating in the dialogue between painting and poetry.

• published: 13 Mar 2016
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