Every afternoon, a party made up of painters Nikos Nikolaou and Yiannis Moralis, sculptor Christos Kapralos, and poet, essayist and translator Odysseas Elytis met at Nikolaou’s house in Plakakia, on the Saronic island of Aegina, sat on the stone terrace and enjoyed the sunset.

“They ate, they drank and they argued passionately, teasing each other. They often continued like this until dawn,” recalls the painter’s nephew, Theodore Zoumboulakis.

In 2019, the architect decided to renovate some of the stone buildings in the seaside village and turn them into guesthouses. Those buildings, which flanked the main residence, had various uses – one was used for storage, other were reserved for guests, and one served as the studio where the distinguished painter, printmaker and sculptor of the so-called Thirties’ Generation did some of his best work.

Now, three years later, the dream of Theodore, Christina, Daphne and Filippos Zoumboulakis has become a reality and the painter’s studio is ready to welcome guests again.

“His workshop was always chock-full of works and projects in progress and all sorts of objects. At least that’s how I remember it,” says Zoumboulakis. “We tried to recreate the atmosphere and place his works and objects as he had them, based on our personal memories, looking at old photographs we found inside the residence, but also photos published in the book on Nikolaou by Adam editions.”

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.