The orange house of renowned Greek artist Alekos Fassianos
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"Everything was designed and created by him, by hand, little by little, like a small paradise," Fassianos' daughter has said.
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Modern artist Alekos Fassianos.
The home of renowned modern artist Alekos Fassianos is located on a calm street dotted with orange trees, away from the noise and bustle of Greece's capital, Athens.
The walls are lined with paintings, lithographs, pottery, and tapestries, but the mysteries of the three-story building's eye-catching interior are rarely revealed to the public.
In the autumn of 2022, a museum dedicated to Fassianos, who is most renowned for his works inspired by Greek mythology and folklore, will open, displaying some of the pieces that adorn his home.
The windows are adorned with iron suns, the floor is covered in mosaics, and the banisters are adorned with sculpted bamboo leaves, while the softly curving walls were built without a corner to avoid a jarring meeting.
"Welcome to the universe of Fassianos. It's an artist's house, a museum," his daughter Viktoria Fassianos told AFP.
"Everything was designed and created by him, by hand, little by little, like a small paradise," she added, pointing to the curtain rods, door handles, lights, sofa, and ochre-colored plasterwork.
Greek inspiration
Despite his works appearing in Paris, Munich, Tokyo, and Sao Paulo, Fassianos wanted to stay faithful to his origins and memories.
"Greekness has always been his inspiration, from mythology to contemporary Greece," said his wife Mariza Fassianos.
"He has always believed that an artist should create with what they know."
Loyalty to roots
Fish from his favorite Greek island of Kea, circular waves reminiscent of Homer's "Odyssey", and other mythological landscapes are among the symbols of his loyalty to his roots.
Fassianos, who was known for inventing his colors, utilized blue to represent Greece's beautiful sky, red to transmit heat, and ochre to portray the inspiration of traditional Greek handicrafts.
The veteran artist would work on the floor or scratch the table's corner.
"He destroyed what he didn't like. I cried, but he knew better than me what we needed to keep," his wife recalled.
The downtown Athens museum that will display Fassianos' work was completely renovated by Fassianos and his architect buddy Kyriakos Krokos.
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The home was created in alignment with Grecian and modernist principles.
"My father planned everything but let future historians carry it out -- he never wanted to take on responsibilities," said Viktoria.
Fassianos has lived in both Greece and France, studying lithography at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris and rubbing shoulders with writers and painters like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.
Despite his admiration for both paintings, he claimed that he was influenced by 77 other artists.
"Alekos has always wanted to remain free and did what he wanted," his wife said, citing his creations taken from the worlds of mythology or Byzantine art.
