LOS ANGELES – Hellenic Together, the UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture and the Benaki Museum lecture series present “Mr. Byzantoine et Ses Amis”: Antonis Benakis and the Art Scene of Alexandria online on Thursday, May 28, 10 AM Los Angeles / 1 PM EST / 8 PM Athens with Mina Moraitou, Curator of the Benaki Museum’s Islamic Art Department.

Antonis Benakis was born in Egypt into one of the prominent Greek families with a strong sense of duty towards society. He maintained close ties with the homeland and had, as all Greeks did, a strong sense of Greek identity although he was born and raised abroad. In a time of irredentist ideas, he contributed to Greece's struggle to expand its borders by supporting operations or participating along with other family members. Within the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Alexandria, a city at the crossroads between East and West, Benakis became a passionate art collector. He had a wide range of interests and gradually he managed to form remarkable collections. This lecture will focus on the artistic scene of Alexandria through the exhibitions organized, the contribution of the Greek community, and especially the role of Antonis Benakis during the mid-1920’s, the years before he permanently moved to Athens. Furthermore, it will highlight the eclectic taste of the collector and the way in which it was reflected in the creation of the Benaki Museum in Athens.

The lecture will be offered on Zoom. Please RSVP to [email protected] to receive the link. You must download the Zoom app prior to the lecture in order to participate.

Upcoming lectures in the series include George Manginis, Academic Director of the Benaki Museum, on June 4 presenting “‘For the Benefit of the Nation’: A Collection of Chinese Art for Greece,” and Irini Papageorgiou, Curator of the Department of Prehistoric, Ancient Greek, and Roman Collections at the Benaki Museum, on “Rites of Passage: The Wedding Rituals in Classical Athens.”

More information is available online: https://hellenic.ucla.edu.