Onassis
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Photo: Ioanna Roufopoulou

Onassis Collection

The Onassis Foundation’s diverse collection highlights the vital role of art in our time.

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The world of the Onassis Foundation’s collection is fascinating and unpredictable, encompassing more than 2,000 works of art dating from 1500 to the present—ranging from paintings and sculptures to digital artworks and installations.

Building bridges between different art forms, the Onassis Foundation’s hybrid collection spans artists from Nikolaos Gyzis, Yanoulis Halepas, and Auguste Rodin to Jannis Varelas and Bob Wilson. Greek and foreign artists from different periods and artistic traditions weave an open-ended narrative defined by diversity, inclusion, and non-linearity. Here, Chryssa meets Etel Adnan, Rena Papaspyrou meets Theo Triantafyllidis, Salvatore Emblema meets Jannis Kounellis, and Andreas Angelidakis meets Wael Shawky.

The Onassis Collection enters into our everyday lives, transforming the spaces in which we live and move. From the Onassis Library and Onassis Stegi to the Foundation’s offices and Onassis Hospital, works from the Collection unfold across public space, cross borders, and become part of international exhibitions at leading museums in Greece and abroad.

Yannis Moralis’ “Girl Painting” was featured in the “JUVENILIA: From early style to mature work” exhibition at the Benaki Museum (October 2025—January 2026), while Ioannis Permeniatis’ “The Crucifixion” and the icon “Madonna and Child” traveled to the Palazzo Ducale, engaging in a dialogue with the artistic heritage of Crete and Venice in the exhibition “Painted Gold.” Meanwhile, an excerpt from Matthew Niederhauser and Marc Da Costa’s digital work “Ekphrasis” (2023) was screened at the Aegean Airlines Business Lounge at Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” through June 2026, inviting travelers into a moment of quiet contemplation through the “The Art of Waiting” initiative.

The Onassis Collection is a living dialogue between the past and the present, where art inspires, reveals, and redefines the world around us.

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    Photo: Ioanna Roufopoulou

    "Rat Holen bei den Moiren", Florial Merkel

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    Photo: Nikos Kokkas

    "154 drawings", Ilias Papailiakis

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    Photo: Nikos Kokkas

    "Mandala 2 Building", Stelios Faitakis

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    Photo: Stelios Tzetzias

    Nikomachi Karakostanoglou, "The Room of Strength", installation at the Onassis Hospital

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    Photo: Nikos Kokkas

    "Jake and Lola", Jannis Varelas

The journeys of works from the Onassis Collection continue throughout the 2026–27 season. In Riga, Andreas Angelidakis’ sculptural installation “Anarchaeological Anaparastasis” (2025) is featured in “ALWAYS THE SUN: Greek Contemporary Art Exhibition” at Riga Contemporary Art Space, from October 3, 2026, to January 10, 2027. In London, Giorgos Ioannou’s “On A Doubtful Thought” (1974) and “In Unknown Direction” (1976) are presented in “A Different Kind of Pop: Giorgos Ioannou’s Works 1960s–1970s” at The Hellenic Centre, from October 8 through November 19, 2026.

In Thessaloniki, an untitled work by Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis is featured in the exhibition “Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis: A Writer and Artist Bred on Athos” at the Mount Athos Center, from October 20, 2026, to January 23, 2027. At Kunstmuseum Bochum, Vlassis Caniaris’ “Perspective” (1971) is featured in “Grentzelos: A Tribute to Vlassis Caniaris,” from December 5, 2026, to June 6, 2027.

The Onassis Collection illuminates the undeniable necessity of art in our time—art that is bold, consoling, and redemptive.

Onassis Collection Highlights

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