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ARTY SPIRITS
 

Five legendary painters and their favourite drinks compose the themes of five nights in the magnificent ambiance of the Karoussos Center. Each of these nights, the Center turns into the bars, cafes, and bistros loved by the artists. From the fabled 'La Fée Verte' inn where the painters drank absinthe to the 'Folies-Bergère' bar, Manet's inspiration for his famous painting, the spirits lifted the artists' spirits. The five Arty Spitits Night transforms the visitor's spirit into epochs when creativity, joy, and intelligence were the ingredients of a fulfilled life.

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VINCENT
VAN
GOGH'S
SPIRIT

ARTIST: VINCENT VAN GOGH

SPIRIT: ABSENTH 

ARTWORK: STARRY NIGHT

LOCATION: KAROUSSOS CENTER | VERGA | KALAMATA | PELOPONNESE | GREECE

DATE: 4 JUNE 2023

TIME: 20.00

TICKET: 25€

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On June 4th, the Karoussos Center transforms into the famed bar "La Fee Verte" to host its guests in a spectacular setting on a full moon night.

The month that Vincent made his stunning painting "The Starry Night," our guests can experience Vincent's artistic pulse while enjoying his favorite drink, the traditional way, and viewing a truly starry night at Karoussos Center's 360 Al Fresco Terrace.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh drank a lot. He drank the strong drink absinthe, commonly known as "the green fairy," which is thought to create hallucinations. Absinthe was also said to induce the drinker to see a yellow tint around objects, as seen in 'The Starry Night,' according to some. However, more recent research has shown that the amount of absinthe consumed would have to be significant enough to produce this effect, indicating that this was most likely not the cause of Van Gogh's yellow. Absinthe drinking was widespread among artists at the time, therefore its abuse was not uncommon.

It is believed that during the time in Arles while in the Yellow House with Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh’s drinking reached its peak. He lived an eccentric lifestyle while constantly consuming absinthe. He would paint outdoors at night with a candle on his hat, he cut off a portion of his ear and left it at a brothel for a girl named Rachel telling her to “keep this object like a treasure”. Following the incident he was sent to a sanitarium. The people of Arles signed a petition to force Van Gogh from town.

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PABLO
PICASSO'S
SPIRIT

ARTIST: PABLO PICASSO

SPIRIT: SANGRIA

ARTWORK: PABLO'S CERAMICS

LOCATION:  KAROUSSOS CENTER | VERGA | KALAMATA | PELOPONNESE | GREECE

DATE: 15 JULY 2023

TIME: 20.00

TICKET: 25€

On July 15th, the Karoussos Center will be transformed into the historic inn 'The Colombe D'Or,' which will welcome guests in a stunning Mediterranean Riviera setting. Guests enjoy the Riviera environment while drinking Picasso's Sangria like they are in Cote d'Azur, where Picasso stayed with the early 20s artistic elite, including Henry Matisse, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Jean-Paul Satre, Simone de Beauvoir, Brigitte Bardot, and Yves Montand. They also learn about the little-known Picasso, the ceramist.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso visited the Riviera in 1923 with his Russian wife, Olga, along with Gerald and Sara Murphy, wealthy American ex-patriots who, like so many of the “Lost Generation,” had flocked to Paris in the nineteen-teens and twenties. It was the Murphys who persuaded the owners of the Hotel du Cap to open their doors year-round, thus changing the Côte d’Azur from a winter to an all-season destination. They and the Picassos, along with other artists and writers such as Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Henri Matisse, Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein, found the tranquil waters, lucid light, rugged coastal cliffs, and charming small towns in this French province impossible to resist. Many bought homes and set up studios.

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Pablo Picasso

FRIDA
KAHLO'S
SPIRIT

ARTIST: FRIDA KAHLO

SPIRIT: FRIDA MARGARITA 

ARTWORK: WATERMELONS

LOCATION:  KAROUSSOS CENTER | VERGA | KALAMATA | PELOPONNESE | GREECE

DATE: 12 AUGUST 2023

TIME: 20.00

TICKET: 25€

Frida Kahlo
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The Karoussos Center turns into "La Casa Azoul" the "blue house" of Frida Kahlo on August 15 to host visitors to the cultural world of the artist.
Guests enjoy a margarita drink while immersing themselves in Kahlo's vibrant life and emotional grandeur. They encounter a vibrant, fresh, and optimistic aspect of her, as they see and taste her watermelons, a sign of fertility and immortality.

Frida Kahlo

At her very core, Frida Kahlo was a fighter. The image of resistance, of challenging social norms, and of the independent woman ties her portraits and paintings together. Her themes of duality are born out of resistance: Mexican versus European, Christianity versus Aztec beliefs, and masculinity versus femininity. Her relationship with Diego Rivera perfectly encapsulates Kahlo’s duality within herself, an internal conflict that was kindled by the problems of the world around her. She wore traditional feminine Mexican clothing instead of European fashion to show her allegiance to the people of her culture and her hair was long. In later paintings, she’ll resist these ideas, depicting herself with shorter hair, donning a suit, or having facial hair, in part to challenge Rivera’s toxic masculinity. Her inclination for resistance also acted as a duality for Rivera as well — something that attracted him, but also caused tension for them.

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PAUL
CEZANNE'S
SPIRIT

ARTIST: PAUL CEZANNE

SPIRIT: PASTIS

ARTWORK: MONT SAINTE-VICTOIRE SERIES

LOCATION: KAROUSSOS CENTER | VERGA | KALAMATA | PELOPONNESE | GREECE

DATE: 2 SEPTEMBER 2023

TIME: 19.00

TICKET: 25€

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Montagne Sainte-Victoire is a mountain in southern France, overlooking Aix-en-Provence. The people, the culture, the landscape, and even the climate take on a deep significance in Manet's artwork. It was also the place in which he felt most able to pursue painting.

On September 2, 2023, Verga and Taygetus will take the position of Sainte-Victoire, overlooking Kalamata, as another Aix-en-Provence, while the Karoussos Center will turn into 'Le Deux Garcons' bistro, where Manet was a regular.

This imaginary dislocation, combined with the early fall colours and anise flavor of Cezanne's favorite drink, Pastis, immerses guests in the artist's magical world.

Paul Cezanne

Cezanna was social and liked to be seen at the right places, in good clothes, with pretty women. He seems to have ended pretty much as he started except minus a leg (amputated: an undiagnosed disease) and plus a reputation as a leader of the oddball painters that some critics derisively called “impressionists” but that Zola insisted on referring to as “naturalists.” Maybe Cezanne would have liked to have a novel written about him. The artist, Zola had in mind, was totally unknown, weird, antisocial character from the provinces, who had in fact gone to school with Zola and who had been his closest friend. In Zola's first novel, Cezanne finds himself used, reduced to words, facts of his life, small and secret experiences, his doubts, and his torment, all used. Paul Cezanne was not a man to howl. The shape of his friend’s treachery filled his mind. He never spoke to Zola again.

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ÉDOUARD
MANET
'S
SPIRI
T

ARTIST: ÉDOUARD MANET

SPIRIT: CHAMPAGNE 

ARTWORK: A NIGHT AT FOLIES BERGERE

LOCATION:  KAROUSSOS CENTER | VERGA | KALAMATA | PELOPONNESE | GREECE

DATE: 28 OCTOBER  2023

TIME: 17.00

TICKET: 25€

To celebrate the arrival of winter, the Mahala Bar in Karoussos Center turns into The Folies-Bergère bar, echoing Manet's masterpiece, ' A Night at Folies-Bergère.

Suzon, the bartender in Manet's painting, serves champagne in a Belle Époque mood with the accompaniment of salon music.

Édouard Manet

In Paris, one prestigious way for artists to introduce themselves to the public is by having their artworks displayed at the Salons. This was not an easy task, though, since Salon juries were so strict and meticulous in screening submitted artworks that were to be exhibited. However, Manet came across numerous critics during the 1860s. When the Salon des Refuses was formed, he decided to display his paintings which shocked several people. Primarily, it was the artist's odd choice of subjects that bewildered critics such as the appearance of nude or barely-dressed women in his paintings. They were not impressed by Manet's style, despite his originality and uniqueness. This has led to more attacks and negativity toward the artist's artworks.

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