Mythical creatures on the beach 1971

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas conjured these Mythical Creatures on the Beach with a brush dipped in a palette of earthy browns and blues. Can’t you just imagine him at work, the painting slowly emerging, shifting, a little trial and error, a lot of intuition? I empathize with the artist here; what was he thinking? This feels like a dream, a moment pulled from mythology, or a collective, almost primal memory. Look at how the paint creates texture, building up to a surface that’s as tactile as it is visual. The figures almost seem to wrestle with the medium, creating a sense of depth. That sweeping gesture across the top left. It speaks of wind, of change, of the eternal motion. Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas was clearly in conversation with the old masters. But, he brought something new to the table. Artists inspire each other across time, across place. This piece, like all painting, embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.