106. 106AR Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika (Greek, 1906-1994) Paysage signé et daté 'Ghika 80' (en bas à gauche) huile sur toile contrecollé sur panneau 17.5 x 29.5cm (6 7/8 x 11 5/8in). Peint en 1980. signed and dated (lower left) oil on canvas laid on board A lacework of rhythmically orchestrated shapes immersed in a mellow atmosphere and captured in a glowing palette of seductive lilacs, purples, and lavenders, this captivating work shows Ghika's lifelong fascination with the ruined structures and crooked stone walls that inform so much of the rural Greek landscape. Moreover, it reflects the artist's aim in the early 1980s to break away from geometric abstraction and return to a freer, less formal expressive language: his outlines loosen up, the pictorial design becomes more fluent and colour looks fresher thanks to the adoption of lighter tones. Everything seems to participate in a paganistic feast of expressive hues and vibrant, pulsating forms. As noted by Ghika himself, "every artist who is by nature a colourist bears within him his own harmonies of colour, which are never exactly those of nature but those of his own ideal of nature. In my case, these harmonies are mainly composed of mauves, greys and pinks, but sun-drenched, sun-saturated colours that have at the same time preserved something of the brightness which might have been theirs in a less cruel light."1 1 E. Roditi, "An Interview with Ghika", Charioteer quarterly, vol. 1, no. 2, Autumn 1960, p. 55.