The Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy UK invites you to have a tour of 'Charmed lives in Greece: Ghika, Craxton, Leigh Fermor', an exhibition focusing on the friendship of the artists Niko Ghika and John Craxton, and the writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, followed by a lecture by Exhibition Curator Ian Collins on Joan Leigh Fermor, wife of Patrick Leigh Fermor: 'Artist and lover: the photographs of Joan Leigh Fermor'. 

: Tour of 'Charmed lives in Greece: Ghika, Craxton, Leigh Fermor' by HICD UK Head of Strategic Planning & Project Assistant at The British Museum , Mr Stratos ;
: 'Artist and lover: the photographs of Joan Leigh Fermor', a lecture by Exhibition Curator Ian Collins on Joan Leigh Fermor, wife of Patrick Leigh ;

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika (1906–1994), John Craxton (1922–2009) and Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915–2011) were significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Leigh Fermor is perhaps the most widely known of the three – largely through his travel writings – and Ghika and Craxton are now recognised as two of the most remarkable artists of this period. The three first met at the end of the Second World War, becoming lifelong friends and spending much of their subsequent lives in Greece. The time they spent together and their close bonds would shape each other’s work for the rest of their lives.

The exhibition brings together their artworks, photographs, letters and personal possessions in the UK for the first time. Highlights include Ghika’s extraordinary painting Mystras and Craxton’s exuberant Still Life with Three Sailors. Also featured is Craxton’s original artwork for the book covers of Leigh Fermor’s travel classics A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water. Many artworks and objects on display are on loan from the Benaki Museum, to which Ghika donated his house and works, from the Craxton Estate, and from institutions and private collections in the UK and Greece. The exhibition focuses on four key places – Hydra, Kardamyli, Crete and Corfu – where they lived and spent time together. Hydra is an island where Ghika’s family home became a gathering place for the three friends, and Leigh Fermor built a house with his wife Joan at Kardamyli. Craxton restored a house at Chania on Crete, and Corfu is where Ghika and his second wife Barbara transformed an old building into an idyllic home and garden.

Together, these places chart the story of this remarkable friendship, and how the people and landscapes of Greece were a great influence on their enduring works.