Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 The Ghikas House on Hydra : From Artists’ Haven to Enchanted Ruins
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas (1906–1994) achieved international renown in the 1950s as the foremost Greek painter of his generation. His grand family home on the island of Hydra became a destination for numerous visiting painters and writers, including Henry Miller, Patrick Leigh Fermor, John Craxton, and Sidney and Cynthia Nolan. Some stayed for extended periods and produced important work there; others, such as George Johnston and Charmian Clift, visited it for social engagements. When the mansion burned down in 1961, by which time a colony of expatriate artists and writers had been established on the island, Ghikas left Hydra and the house was never rebuilt. This essay reflects upon Ghikas’s home, and the hospitality and intellectual and creative company offered there, by considering what Cynthia Nolan, the Johnston-Clifts, Miller, Leigh Fermor and others have written about it in their letters and books. The house is gone but it remains as a literary construct as well as a mystery-shrouded ruin that serves as a poignant reminder of a significant period in the island’s modern history.' (Publication summary)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon JASAL Literary Expatriation vol. 19 no. 1 2019 18003452 2019 periodical issue 'Literary expatriation as a practice, but also topic of curiosity, discussion and scholarly enquiry, is deeply entrenched in Australian cultural life. For well understood historical and geographic reasons, the need for travel is embedded in Australians, and for generations of creative individuals it has been the norm to turn travel from their homeland into long term absence.' (Paul Genoni and Tanya Dalziell, 'Introduction') 2019
Last amended 11 Nov 2019 10:07:55
https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/JASAL/article/view/14111/12658 The Ghikas House on Hydra : From Artists’ Haven to Enchanted Ruinssmall AustLit logo JASAL
Subjects:
  • Hydra, Greek islands,
    c
    Greece,
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
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