National Bank Museum of Art Collection
The National Bank Museum of Art Collection is in one of the city's most impressive buildings of neoclassical architecture.
Modern and Contemporary era (1821 - )
1841 The collection’s creation began.
1842 The bank opened.
1863 During the "June events" (bloody clashes between the political parties), serious damages were caused to the building of Georgios Stavros.
1894 Between 1894 and 1900 the buildings were merged.
Ottoman era (1453- 1821)
Byzantine era (331 AC- 1453)
Roman era (30 BC- 330 AC)
Hellenistic era (322- 31 BC)
Classical era (478-323 BC)
Archaic era (800-479 BC)
Geometric era (-1100- 800 BC)
Prehistory (-1100 BC)
What I can see
The National Bank Building houses over 1300 original works by leading painters, sculptors and engravers of the 19th and the 20th century. This is what makes them museum pieces. The collection’s core consists of leading artists of the “Munich School”, such as Nikiforos Lytras, Konstantinos Volanakis, Nikolaos Gyzis and great sculptors such as Ioannis Kossos, Emmanuel Tombros and Thanasis Apartis. There are also many works of the so-called “generation of the ’30s”, such as Nikolaos Chatzikyriakos Gkikas, Spyros Papaloukas, Giannis Tsarouchis, Spyros Vassiliadis, Giannis Moralis, Nikos Eggonopoulos, Giorgos Zoggolopoulos, Giannis Pappas and earlier ones, such as Konstantinos Parthenis and Konstantinos Maleas.
What I can't see
During the 19th century, there were two separate buildings from the 1840s. On the left, was the house of Athens University professor Kyriakos Domnandos, which in 1845 became the property of banker Georgios Stavros and the first bank facility of independent Greece. On the right, was the hotel “Anglia” of Frangiskos Feraldis, which was bought 10 years later for the expansion of the bank. The two buildings had the same number of floors and height, so they were easily merged. They were completely renovated and got a single neoclassical facade, designed by Eugene Trumbe. The first funds of the bank were offered by the Swiss philhellene Jean-Gabriel Eynard.
Info
- Address: 86 Aeolou St.
Bibliography
http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/gh151.jsp?obj_id=3270
Last visit 1/2/2023
Archaeology of the city of Athens, (d.u.), Μέγαρο Εθνικής Τράπεζας, [National Bank’s Mansion], NRF
http://archaeologia.eie.gr/archaeologia/gr/arxeio
Last visit 1/2/2023
Yohalas T., Kafetzaki Τ., (2013), Αθήνα, Ιχνηλατώντας την πόλη με οδηγό την ιστορία και τη λογοτεχνία [Athens, Tracing the city guided by history and literature], ESTIA Bookstore
Zivas D.A.., (2012), Αρχιτεκτονικός Οδηγός Αθηνών, [Architectural Guide of Athens], Cultural Foundation of Pireos Group