Parathyro
The A. G. Leventis Gallery is opening a new temporary exhibition titled “Christoforos Savva: Simple – Complex – Invisible: An Unknown Archive”, which will run from 20 November 2025 until 28 June 2026.
The show brings to light, for the first time, a valuable and previously unknown archive of Christoforos Savva (1924–1968), the artist who opened new paths in modern Cypriot art and linked local artistic creation with the major currents of the international visual arts scene. The archive, which includes works, sketches, photographs and personal notes, illuminates Savva’s creative journey and reveals little-known aspects of his oeuvre.
An unexpected discovery and a story of friendship
This unique discovery was the outcome of circumstance, bonds of friendship and acts of reconciliation.
In late 2020, Eleni S. Nikita, the first curator of the Gallery’s Cyprus Collection, met collector Charalambos Sergiou to view a portfolio of works that had been given to him by a Turkish Cypriot friend. The gift –an act of return and reconciliation– turned out to be part of a much larger archive containing hundreds of works and objects by Savva, dating from 1946 to 1968.
The archive stems from the friendship and collaboration between Savva and the father of the Turkish Cypriot donor, a well-known collector and client of the artist. Their story opens a moving chapter in Cyprus’s recent history, in which art transcends dividing lines and functions as a bridge of communication.
Research, loss and a dedication
Systematic study and cataloguing of the archive began in 2021 at the Leventis Gallery under the rigorous scholarly guidance of Eleni S. Nikita. She did not live to see the completion of the publication and the exhibition, passing away in 2024 and leaving an irreplaceable void.
This exhibition is dedicated to her memory and stands as a tribute to her rich scholarly work and her unique contribution to understanding and highlighting contemporary Cypriot art.
A key figure of Cypriot modernism
Christoforos Savva was a phenomenon in Cypriot art. With his pioneering work he moved beyond the traditional forms of the first generation of Cypriot painters and became a crucial link to younger generations of artists.
Through this new exhibition, the public will have the chance to discover works, drawings, photographs and notes by Savva that are being shown for the first time, revealing the “simple”, “complex” and “invisible” dimensions of his practice – a body of work that shaped Cypriot modernism.
More than a century after his birth, the Leventis Gallery honours Christoforos Savva with this exhibition and continues its mission to present and study contemporary Cypriot art, giving audiences the opportunity to rediscover an artist who marked his era.
The Leventis Gallery thanks art historian Daphne Nikita and Orestis Nikitas, the family of the late Eleni S. Nikita, for their support in realising the exhibition. It also expresses its gratitude to Charalambos Sergiou for making this important collection available for research and presentation.
