National Art Gallery, Athens

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You will need not more than an hour for this gallery. Although if you're into art, probably, you'll like to spend some more time here because it is surprisingly good.
Greek art is bright and full of life! Paintings are full of lively colors and depict mostly scenes of everyday life which are familiar to all of us.
Although traveling in Europe I never heard of famous Greek artists I loved this collection and will look forward to know more about Greek artists.

The National Art Gallery does not appear to be all that enjoyable from the outside - the building is rather ugly and it is a bit far out from the other museums and sites of the old city. Nevertheless, the Gallery has a wonderful collection of almost entirely Greek art with complete and intelligent explanations of the various periods of Greek art. The first floor contains temporary exhibits (when I went in June 2007 there was a collection of art work, letters, newspaper clippings and illustrations commemorating solidarity between WWII resistance in France and Greece), a small collection of Western European art and the beginnings of Greek paintings. This floor actually has relatively little Byzantine art work, but rather it starts with the post-Byzantine painters of Venetian occupied Greece and explains how Western art impressed a more realistic dialogue on Greek painting. There is then a progression through Greek history with explanations of the changes in style and expression that were brought about by Independence, the rise of the bourgeoisie, the establishment of constitutional monarchy, the First World War/Population Exchange, the generation of the thirties, WWII and the post-War period plus dictatorship. There is a larger collection of modern Greek art than is on display and for this reason the pieces are occasionally changed in the modern art section of the gallery in order to allow visitors to see the entire collection.

National gallery opened in 1976 and has a big collection of paintings
(most of them by Greek artist) including important painting
of : EL GRECO,GOYA,PICASSO The gallery has also a collection
of sculptures and temporary exhibits

The National Art Gallery, the most important institution in Greece devoted to the subject of the history of Greek and Western European art, has been in operation, in its present form, since 1976. The actual founding of the institution dates back to 1900.

The collection of works of Greek art outlines the development of this pictorial creation from its beginnings in the Ionian islands until its most up-to-date expressions.

Although the collection of European paintings is not as rich as the Greek one, it nevertheless presents some special interest.

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Although Greece is known for other art forms rather than painting, the National Gallery is worth visiting. The biggest part of its collections is dedicated to Greek artists of the 19th century. Typical Greek landscapes, among them Meteora and islands will inspire you especially if you are heading to some place in the rest of the country. There are also some works of famous artists, like Rembrant, Delacrois, Caravaggio, Picasso but not major ones. Dominikos Theotokopoulos, or else El Greco, is the most prominent painter the country has produced and in the Gallery there are five of his works. When you are in Athens check out if there's a periodical exhibition. Many of them are on world class artists, the paintings brought from many galleries around the world.

These two women look like the ghosts, but it's only the exhibition of theatrical clothes in National Gallery, the museum I like very much.
The National Gallery in downtown Athens is the most important exhibition space of paintings and sculpture in the country. Its collections include 9,500 paintings, sculptures and engravings, offering a complete picture of modern Greek art through the works of significant painters such as, Nikiphoros Lytras, Konstantinos Volanakis, Nikolaos Ghyzis, Konstantinos Parthenis, Giannis Tsarouchis, Giannis Moralis, Nikos Chatzikyriakos Gkikas and many more.
In the last few years the Gallery has organized a number of very important shows, including the El Greco retrospective in 2002 and the winter 2003-04 exhibition on the influanece of the Greek classical tradition on Renaissance art.

This painting of Theodoros Vryzakis -"The sortie of Messolongi"- is one of the most famous of the National Gallery (and Alexandros Soutzos Museum). The actual founding of the institution dates back to 1900. The Gallery had been renovated in 2001, since then it has been a modern and pleasant museum of art...
There are two great collections, one about the greek painting of 19th-20th centuries and the other about european painting. A gallery of sculpture has been created on the ground floor of the main building. My favorite floor is the last one, where you can see modern art... In general, the most important exhibitions about painting take place there.

NATIONAL ART GALLERY

Today, there is a speciazized library on the History of Art at the National Art Gallery. A complete photographic workshop has been set up, as well as a modern conservation workshop; also a wood restoration and carpentry workshop, while another service undertakes the conservation of paper. Finally, on the ground floor of the main building, has been created a Gallery of Sculptures, for the display of 19th and 20th-century sculptures.

The most important collections of the National Gallery are:

Greek Painting (19th - 20th century)
European Painting
The National Art Gallery and Alexandros Soutzos Museum, the most important institution in Greece devoted to the subject of the history of Greek and Western European art, has been in operation, in its present form, since 1976. The actual founding of the institution dates back to 1900, when the relevant decree was published and the duties of curator were undertaken by George Iakovides (1900-1918). Already, however, in 1834, within the framework of the new social organization - on Western European lines - of the newly-born Greek state, the decree 'On Technological Collections' provided for the founding, in Athens, of a Museum of paintings and engravings.

The most important collections of the National Gallery are the Greek Painting (19th - 20th century) collection and the European one.