Galerie Zygos

A Brief History

Galerie Zygos, was established in 1956 in Athens, Greece, by Frantzis Frantzeskakis, an art journalist and connoisseur of the arts and his wife Catherine.

A year earlier, in 1955 Frantzis and Catherine Frantzeskakis had started publication of "Zygos", Greece's most authoritative arts magazine (1955-1983).

In 1982 Zygos launched 'Zygos Annual Edition on the Hellenic Fine Arts' in English, representing the only reference source for Greek contemporary fine arts in English to date (1982-1985), edited by Ion Frantzeskakis, the founder's son who studied arts and publishing in Athens and London.

Between the years 1985 and 1991 Zygos operated Zygos Gallery in Washington, D.C., exhibiting both Greek, Greek-American and American artists, under the direction of Ion Frantzeskakis.

In 1991 Ion moved to Northern California and got involved in publishing, but soon added Stoa Gallery of Petaluma to his activities.

In 2000, Ion repatriatred to his native Athens and soon reopened the gallery which had temporarily ceased operating due to his father's retirement.

Galerie Zygos is now directed by Ion Frantzeskakis.

Galerie Zygos represents both established and upcoming artists, of all styles and techniques, provided they satisfy our quest for quality, originality and creativity.

We deal primarily with original painting and sculpture, but often include fine art photography and engraving among our selections.

Kudos

According to Professor of Art History and Member of the Greek Academy Chrysanthos Christou:

'...Over these last decades, Galerie Zygos, along with Zygos magazine devoted entirely to the fine arts, has been one of the main centers -if not the center- of all new artistic developments in Greece. It has launched numerous young artists, it has kept the artloving public abreast of current trends in art (giving the Athenians their first-ever introduction to the work of Picasso, for example in the early 60s), and in general it has made good use of its exhibition halls and the pages of its publications to illustrate the aspirations and attainments of Greek contemporary art in the fullest possible way...'

On December 2000, Frantzis Frantzeskakis, the founder of Zygos magazine and Galerie Zygos, was honored by the Academy of Athens with the Lifetime Award for his overall contribution to Greek Art & Culture, presented by the then President of the Greek Republic the Hon. Constantine Stefanopoulos.