Head of a woman

John Craxton arrived in Athens in the summer of 1946, and fell instantly in love with Greece. And he fell almost as quickly into friendship with the well-connected Diamantopoulos family. Mina Diamantopoulos was the leading hostess on the island of Poros, where the nomadic Craxton had his principal base for the next decade and he (and for several months Lucian Freud) benefited from her boundless generosity. When visiting Athens Craxton often stayed with Mina’s sister-in-law, the painter Aleca Stylou Diamantopoulos (1909-1959), who had a villa and garden in the centre of the city and whose late husband had been doctor to the children of King Paul. These four paintings (lots 10-13) – never on exhibition, never on the market until now - were gifts the guest left behind. The dancer (lot 12) was probably a sailor sketched in a Poros taverna. The artist and hostesses shared a love of cats – Aleca had as many as six; Mina had at least 20.

We are very grateful to Ian Collins for preparing this catalogue note and his assistance in preparing the catalogue entries for lots 10-13.