Artist John Craxton’s residence in Chania, on the edge of the harbour, is the same as his life: light, feeling, inspiration and creative mess. A few days ago, on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition “John Craxton: The Greek Soul” at the Municipal Art Gallery of Chania, dedicated to the British artist, whom the cafe and market hanites considered their man, we had the honor to pass through the arched entrance to the labyrinth-like area.

The house is legendary and expensive. After the death of the artist, it remains closed to the public, and in the future it will host artists, which will be taken care of by The Craxton Estate Foundation. In the past, wonderful feasts and honored guests from all over the world were held here, but, above all, Craxton’s adoration for Greece and especially Crete was kept here. Thus, our tour with Ian Collins, his close friend, biographer and art exhibition curator, was a rare opportunity to recreate the artist’s Greek life.

Every room is filled with books and memorabilia, all evidence of a lifetime of art and pleasure.

Born into an unconventional English family of artists and musicians, this 20-something bohemian has dreamed of the south, the warmth and hedonism of the Mediterranean since the 1940s. Gifted with extraordinary talent and the favor of fortune, he lived for pleasure and captured this in his picture. He became a Greek by conviction and found here a place that – familiar and imaginary – illuminated his art. He was a member of an elite international group, among them was Patrick Leigh Fermor, whose members were the best ambassadors of our country abroad. And he, as a painter, most of all loved the golden light of the sun and Crete, “an island where lemons grow and oranges melt in your mouth … and the sea, like a harp on volcanic shores,” as he wrote. .

In June 1960, John Craxton and a friend traveled by evening ferry from Piraeus to Heraklion. They arrived in the morning, saw Knossos, and then traveled by bus to Chania, a city that, for him, “exuded the open and international exoticism of the Greek Tangier,” as Ian Collins writes in his book John Craxton: Beloved of Life (Pataki ed.). By lunchtime, he had agreed to rent one end of a dilapidated Venetian palazzo for £7 a month. It was a long, narrow four-story building with enough space for a studio, a bedroom, and a view of the harbour. There were dirty waters in the harbor then, buildings – Venetian and Ottoman remnants – were collapsing, and few locals wanted to live there, since the new city, developing away from the old one, wanted to forget its past. But he fell in love with this dilapidated building forever and for many years looked after it with great tenacity, saving its architectural elements thrown into the street.

Even today, 23 years after his death, his presence is felt on every corner. The front door of the house leads the visitor to a small patio with two stone steps leading to the basement and five leading to his heart. From the narrow kitchen, a wooden staircase leads up to the bedroom and dining room with an amazing terrace that now overlooks the blue waters of the harbor, ending in an upstairs atelier still full of brushes and drawers. , drawing tools and a view of the Cretan Sea and the White Mountains. Every room is covered in woven Cretan kilims, there are books and memorabilia on every surface, and the shelves are lined with sea hats in abundance, all testament to a life of art and pleasure.

The exhibition, which is held at the Municipal Art Gallery of Chania (until January 31, 2023) and is a joint organization with the Benaki Museum, presents about 100 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and objects that originate mainly from the Craxton estate, but also 20 works provided by the artist’s friends living in Chania.