Female figure, ca. 2500-2400 BC. (picture The Walters Museum)
The founders of the Museum of Cycladic Art, Nicholas and Dolly Goulandris, began to collect ancient artefacts and Cycladic figurines back in the ’60s. As time went on, the collection increased in size. Between 1979 and 1984, the Nicholas P. Goulandris Collection was exhibited in some of the most important Museums world-wide: the National Gallery of Art in Washington (1979), the Museum of Western Art in Tokyo (1980), the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (1981), the Royal Museum of History and Art in Brussels (1982), the British Museum in London (1983), and the Grand Palais in Paris (1983).
The Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens was inaugurated on 26 January 1986. Dolly Goulandris donated the entire N.P. Goulandris Collection to the museum, where it has been on exhibition ever since.
the collections
Then museum has 3 main collections:
the Cycladic Art Collection, one of the most important in the world, is a pole of attraction for young and old alike. The austere marble figurines depicting nude figures of humans enchant visitors with their simplicity and abstraction – features that have, indeed, inspired 20th-century artists such as Brancusi, Modigliani, Giacometti, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and others.
the Ancient Greek Art Collection is a synthetic approach to the history of the Aegean societies from 2.000 BC to the 4th c. AD. With the aid of about 350 exhibits and interactive applications, visitors can follow the most important social and political developments from the birth of ancient Greek civilisation down to its creative blending with the Roman tradition, as reflected in constant changes in art and ideology. Part of the exhibition is devoted to ancient Greek technology.
the Thanos Zintilis Collection of Cypriot Antiquities one of the most important private collections of Cypriot antiquities in the world, includes about 400 artifacts made of stone, clay, bronze, silver, gold, glass, and faience are on display, representing a broad spectrum of Cypriot civilization from the Chalcolithic period (4th millennium BC) down to Early Byzantine times (6th c. AD).
the buildings
The museum is housed in two separate buildings, which are connected by a glass-roofed corridor: the Main Building, housing the permanent collections and the New Wing, and the Stathatos Mansion, housing the temporary exhibitions.
Main Building
Museum of Cycladic Art – main building entrance
The Main Building, at 4 Neophytou Douka str., was built in 1985 by the architect Ioannis Vikelas to house the permanent collections of the museum. The building has 4 floors with galleries, occupying in total approximately 2,300 sq. m., storerooms, workshops, and offices.
Stathatos Mansion
Museum of Cycladic Art – Stathatos Mansion
The Stathatos Mansion, work of the Bavarian architect Ernst Ziller, is one of the most important extant examples of Neoclassical architecture in nineteenth-century Athens. Since 1991 it houses temporary exhibitions and the offices of the museum. The building is accessible both from the corner of Vasilissis Sophias Avenue and Irodotou Street, and from the Main Building, via a closed passageway leading from the atrium.
Cycladic Art Museum
4, Neophytou Douka str.,
106 74, Athens, Greece
Telephone: +30 210 72 28 321
Email: museum@cycladic.gr
Website: https://cycladic.gr/en/
OPENING HOURS
Îœonday – Wednesday – Friday – Saturday: 10:00 to 17:00
Thursday: 10:00 to 20:00
Sunday: 11:00 to 17:00
Tuesday: closed
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