Stories from the crypt of Vernadsky Avenue

Moscow, 1974. In flat 58 connected the 15th level of a skyscraper connected Vernadsky Avenue, successful the southern portion of Moscow, the household of George Costakis is preparing to welcome US Senator Ted Kennedy and John F. Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline.

“In summation to the champion vodka, we had purchased various drinks, adjacent whiskey. ‘What will you drink?’ we asked the distinguished guest. ‘A Cuba libre,’ Kennedy replied. ‘Cuba libre?’ we asked ourselves. Is it imaginable for an American to want a ‘free Cuba?’” Aliki Costaki, the 2nd of the 4 children of the Greek collector, who was contiguous astatine that visit, describes Kennedy’s banter with her family. In the end, the legislator chose vodka that evening. “Even betting with maine whether it should beryllium drank with crystal cubes oregon neat.”

The fame of Costakis’ apartment-turned-museum, with hundreds of paintings hanging from level to ceiling, had already spread beyond the borders of the Soviet Union, and the collector, calved successful Moscow to Greek parents, enjoyed showing his galore visitors astir and sharing with them the cognition helium had acquired astir avant-garde creation – then unknown adjacent to creation historians.

George Costakis (left) with US Senator Edward Kennedy successful the Greek collector’s flat successful Moscow, successful 1974. [MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection]

“One of my earliest memories is connected with Igor Stravinsky’s visit successful 1962,” says Aliki Costaki. The large Russian composer and conductor was the archetypal to permission his impressions successful the impermanent book, choosing to explicit his admiration not successful words, but successful a bid of philharmonic notes. “And who other should I retrieve first? Michelangelo Antonioni, Andrzej Wajda, Albert Skira, David Rockefeller, Marc Chagall, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sviatoslav Richter, who was a person of my father; it is easier to sanction those who had not visited our location than to database each the celebrated guests we welcomed – presidents of states, politicians, businessmen, artists.”

We met Costaki astatine the Lazariston Monastery successful Thessaloniki, successful a space designed to lucifer a country successful their location successful Moscow, connected the crushed level of the MOMus-Museum of Modern Art, soon earlier the opening of the day exhibition, “The Avant-Garde World. City, Nature, Universe, Human,” astatine the National Gallery successful Athens, with astir 300 works from the celebrated Costakis collection. It was there that her father’s postulation was presented to the Greek nationalist for the archetypal clip 30 years ago.

Aliki Costakis remembers that her father’s passionateness for creation and particularly for the Russian Avant-Garde had turned their location into a museum. She tells Kathimerini that helium was considered ‘a stranger’ successful Stalinist Russia. [Alexandros Avramidis]

We asked her to callback her puerility and youth, her experiences with her father, the “mad Greek,” arsenic helium was called astatine the clip by those Muscovites who did not understand his passionateness for piling up works of forgotten art, thrown distant successful warehouses and attics, successful his house.

“I often comparison Costakis to Heinrich Schliemann,” she says, referring to the celebrated German archaeologist. “Just arsenic Schliemann unearthed the treasures of Troy, so did Costakis bring to airy the hidden diamonds of the avant-garde. His dedication to this endeavor lasted respective decades. He searched for works of creation everywhere, arriving astatine the source by word of rima with reservations, often under the watchful oculus of the information services. Because, fto us not hide that Costakis was a stranger successful Stalinist Russia. Many hesitated to travel into interaction with him arsenic the artists of these works were hunted down and their creation banned.”

Born successful 1939, Aliki was still a kid when successful 1947 her father, then an worker of the Canadian embassy, turned his collecting involvement to the creation of pioneering artists of the 1910s and 1920s. She experienced the full travel of the postulation and successful information grew up with it, sharing with her begetter his anguish implicit the destiny of the works successful Moscow and Greece. She managed the bequest helium near aft his decease successful 1990, the ineligible process of its acquisition by the Greek state, and the transfer and installation of the postulation successful Thessaloniki successful 1998.

From a young age, she remembers her father’s arduous effort to cod “works that had fallen into obscurity and contempt,” often with idiosyncratic sacrifices. Despite the difficulties, the endless cynical and sarcastic comments from friends and acquaintances – “the household won’t adjacent person wealth to hide him,” some said – helium remained steadfast successful his mission, passionate astir art. “My begetter was not lone a superb collector, but besides a person of history. In summation to the paintings, the archives helium saved are a precious treasure. His instinct came from something overmuch deeper: his innate consciousness of beauty. This guided him. He believed that this creation had to beryllium saved, due to the fact that the value of the avant-garde, helium said, did not interest lone Russia, but the whole world. That is why our location was ever unfastened to anyone who showed adjacent the slightest involvement successful this signifier of art.”

Alexander Rodchenko, ‘Clown-Pierrot’ (1919). [MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection]

‘The thaw’

When Joseph Stalin died successful 1953, the socio-political scenery of the Soviet Union began to change. “This period, known successful Russia arsenic ‘the thaw,’ was marked by de-Stalinization, the merchandise of governmental prisoners, and the relaxation of censorship. Avant-garde creation was not yet officially presented successful exhibitions, but its works were nary longer categorically banned,” she explains.

In this clime of restrained optimism, earlier involvement successful the Russian avant-garde began to turn successful the West, George Costakis wanted to stock his passionateness with the public. If his ambitious thought for the instauration of a depository had been accepted successful the Soviet Union, the postulation would person ne'er reached Greece. “My begetter suggested to the then curate of culture, Yekaterina Furtseva, that helium donate the postulation to the Moscow municipality, with the purpose of establishing a Museum of Avant-Garde. However, this program ne'er materialized, possibly due to the fact that it was still too aboriginal for such a bold initiative. To my large regret, nary such depository exists successful Moscow adjacent today.”

Wassily Kandinsky’s drawing, ‘Cup and Saucer,’ 1924, State Porcelain Factory, Petrograd (Saint Petersburg today). [MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection]

He decided to turn his location into a museum. “His wish came true successful 1969 successful a caller flat with large, white walls, plentifulness of earthy airy and a fewer furnishings that highlighted the collection. There, my begetter was yet capable to stock his passionateness with the world. He enjoyed telling stories astir artists, talking astir the creator movements that Stalinism ‘killed.’”

‘I often comparison Costakis to Heinrich Schliemann. Just arsenic Schliemann unearthed the treasures of Troy, so did Costakis bring to airy the hidden diamonds of the avant-garde’

Visitors, Western and Russian, began to summation – on with the pressures of the regime. “Throughout the beingness of George Costakis, I ever felt a heavy consciousness of work not lone for the aboriginal of the postulation but besides for our lives. In the aboriginal 1970s, works were stolen from our house, followed by the arson of our dacha successful Bankovka, where paintings were burned,” she says.

“At that time, the threats had intensified, the hazard of deportation was up of us. We were under changeless surveillance. My girl did not spell to schoolhouse for information reasons and we ever traveled separately so that if thing happened to 1 of us, someone from the household would survive. I made the determination then, I pressured my begetter to find a λύση for the postulation and permission the country. So we projected dividing the collection, leaving portion of it successful the [State] Tretyakov Gallery.”

Costakis ultimately near 834 works successful Moscow and obtained export permits for 1,300 others, arsenic well arsenic for their affluent archive.

In the separation of the works that took spot successful 1977, Aliki clarifies that her begetter “never felt pressured astir the works helium had to permission successful Russia, arsenic the Tretyakov specialists were not experts successful avant-garde art.”

Liubov Popova, ‘Study for a portrait,’ beforehand broadside (1915). [MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection]

“He deliberately chose to permission some of the astir important masterpieces successful their state of origin, such arsenic Kandinsky’s ‘Red Square,’ Malevich’s Portrait of ‘MV Matyushin,’ Chagall’s ‘Lilies of the Valley,’ Kliment Redko’s ‘Uprising,’ astir which, arsenic helium said, ‘if you bent it connected the wall and stand two meters away, you statesman to consciousness a heat.’ It was hanging successful my daughter, Katerina’s, room. This coating carries the full past of the Russian Revolution. When this work near the house, my begetter cried.”

Many of the works helium kept were besides some of his favorites, she continues. “Ivan Kliun’s ‘Red Light,’ Malevich’s ‘Black Square.’ ‘I emotion them each similar my ain children,’ helium would say, ‘but if you inquire maine who my favourite creator is, I would tell you Lyubov Popova.’”

From gulags to present

Rome was the archetypal stop when they near Moscow and is where they settled successful 1977. From there, the postulation started being exhibited successful Europe and the United States, which is where Costakis himself began to paint. “One of his works depicts the Gulag campy successful Kotlas. He had gone to support his younger member Dimitris – which was a bold determination – who had been unjustly accused of espionage arsenic a Greek citizen.”

The household yet settled successful Athens, which offered them and continues to connection them “a consciousness of information and certainty, something that would astir apt beryllium hard to admit for Russia today,” Aliki says.

“Russia is my birthplace, my homeland, but I americium profoundly saddened by what is unfolding there today. I consciousness that the state has returned to the Stalinist era. I don’t truly miss thing from there – surely not Moscow. The metropolis has changed dramatically successful caller decades. To maine it present looks similar an overpriced, flashy set, made exclusively for tourists.”

Solomon Nikritin, ‘Tractor Driver with Violin,’ (approximately 1930). [MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection]

George Costakis died successful 1990, bittersweet that his life’s work was ne'er presented successful his homeland. Five years later, successful 1995, the postulation was exhibited astatine the National Gallery of Athens. “The accumulation realizes a imagination of galore years,” Aliki had said astatine the time.

The ambitious thought of a depository lodging the full postulation yet became a world successful Thessaloniki. The state bought the postulation for 14.2 cardinal drachmas (about €40 cardinal today) with a indebtedness from the National Bank, which was repaid successful 2010. The collection’s value today is tenfold.

The precious cargo arrived successful Thessaloniki connected the nighttime of October 5, 1998, and the acquisition was completed successful 2000. The accomplishment and imperishable installation of the Costakis postulation astatine the recently founded State Museum of Contemporary Art (now MOMus-Museum of Modern Art) resembled a country from a movie. Patrol cars had surrounded the Lazariston Monastery, where the depository is housed, arsenic the truck arrived with the artwork packed successful 72 ample boxes and trunks. The collector’s girl was besides contiguous during the delivery, and she remains discreetly contiguous to this day.

Solomon Nikritin, ‘Red Figure,’ 1927. [MOMus-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection]

‘Happiest time of their lives’

“All these years astatine MOMus-Museum of Modern Art, its dedicated team, particularly its manager Maria Tsantsanoglou, has done a large occupation successful managing the works and the archive. It continues my father’s bequest by promoting avant-garde creation worldwide, a ngo that Costakis began successful Moscow successful 1960-1970. Its relocation to Fix, successful an perfect depository setting, will implicit Costakis’ dream. At the Guggenheim, my begetter used to say: ‘If we invited the avant-garde artists, it would beryllium the happiest time of their lives.’ I would accidental the same. If helium saw that his postulation was cared for with such emotion and devotion, helium would instrumentality to eden happier!”

The commemorative exhibition, “The Avant-Garde World. City, Nature, Universe, Human,” opened successful April astatine the National Gallery of Athens and will beryllium connected show until September 27, 2026.