The Benaki Museum inaugurated an exhibition on October 14, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of Cahiers d’Art, focusing on the journal’s global, multitemporal and intercultural character through objects drawn from the museum’s heterogeneous collections. Curated by Polina Kosmadaki and Vasiliki Daniil with architectural design by Pavlos Thanopoulos, the display examines the historical and conceptual links between founder Christian Zervos’s publishing vision and Antonis Benakis’s collecting philosophy. An immersive video installation by Natalia Papadopoulou animates pages of the magazine within the gallery on the second floor of the Museum of Greek Culture.
The exhibition assembles Cycladic figurines, Persian ceramics, Chinese porcelain, Byzantine icons, Coptic textiles, pre-Columbian objects from Peru, traditional musical instruments and woven fabrics, some shown to the public for the first time. These artifacts appear in direct relation to their reproduction, circulation and interpretation in the journal’s pages, according to the Benaki Museum. The presentation highlights how the magazine juxtaposed modern art with items from varied cultures and eras without conventional hierarchies.
Founded in Paris in 1926 by Greek-born art critic Christian Zervos, Cahiers d’Art emerged as a central publication of the European avant-garde and continued to influence discourse for decades. Its early covers featured monochromatic squares, a motif reinterpreted in the exhibition through red, yellow and green wall-mounted display cases. The journal notably featured works by Pablo Picasso alongside archaeological finds and non-Western objects, shaping perceptions of modernism.[[1]](https://www.tovima.com/culture/benaki-museum-celebrates-100-years-of-cahiers-dart/)
This Athens exhibition forms part of an international anniversary program coordinated by the Cahiers d’Art publishing house with curator Daniel Birnbaum, the museum reported. Similar tributes are taking place at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée national Picasso-Paris and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. The Benaki’s contribution underscores the shared emphasis on cross-cultural dialogue that defined both Zervos’s editorial choices and Benakis’s acquisitions.
Tickets for the show, which runs until January 24, 2027, are priced at 9 euros for standard entry and 7 euros for reduced admission, with advance purchase recommended through the museum’s online platform. Opening hours align with those of the Museum of Greek Culture, though visitors should confirm specific days in advance. The exhibition space is organized to evoke the experience of turning the journal’s pages through strategic placement of objects and visuals.
The initiative reflects the journal’s enduring legacy in art history, where images, objects and publications intersect to reshape understanding, according to accompanying museum materials. Additional events tied to the centenary have included discussions with figures such as Staffan Ahrenberg, current owner of Cahiers d’Art, and Cécile Debray of the Musée national Picasso-Paris. Such programming positions the Benaki Museum within a wider network of institutions reevaluating modernism’s roots through contemporary curatorial approaches.
