Exhibitions

The Benaki Museum has  graciously gifted Maliotis Cultural Center with a collection of photographic reproductions of photographer Albert Meyer’s rare album “Olympic Games 1896,” which documents the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The negatives in Meyer’s archive were destroyed in the bombing of Dresden during the Second World War, making the original prints remaining in Benaki’s possession priceless. The special collection evokes a spirit of patriotism and hope as witnessed on the athlete’s faces during the Games. In a standout image by Meyer, the 27-year-old American James Brendan Connolly, the first modern Olympic champion, is photographed holding the American flag. A priceless gift graciously shared by the Benaki Museum, Albert Meyer’s “Olympic Games 1896” will be on permanent display at Maliotis Cultural Center beginning in August. The Maliotis Cultural Center and the Benaki Museum invite members of the press, cultural institutions, and the public to join them in celebrating the opening of Albert Meyer’s “Olympic Games 1896” exhibition in August. 

Exhibition Album

The Olympic Games of 1896 constitute a breakthrough in the history of sports events. The revival of the ancient tradition transformed international sports meetings into the global events we know today.

One of the most famous photographers of that period was the well-travelled and American educated German, Albert Meyer (Dresden 1857-1924). Meyer travelled to Athens for the Games and became the official photographer of the German Team.

The 25 rather Spartan photographs of his album capture the chronicles of the Games, documenting both the athletic rituals and the athletic labors of the participants. Photographs include the International Olympic Committee, the main Greek benefactor of the Games, Georgios Averof, the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra performing in the Opening Ceremony as well as various athletes including Spyros Louis, who posed for Albert Meyer wearing a national Greek costume after winning the First Marathon.

The album became the official keepsake of the Games reserved for a few members of the International Olympic Committee and some royal courts of participating countries.

The photographic studio and archive of Albert Meyer was destroyed in 1945, when allied bombings flattened Dresden, turning the original photographs into rare and priceless artifacts.

Among the members of the organizing committee who received one of the rare leather albums was its Secretary George Streit, banker and minister of the Greek government of the period. Marinos Yeroulanos, his grandson and President of the Board of Trustees of the Benaki Museum, donated the album to the Historical Archives of the Museum where it is safeguarded today as a unique token to both History and Art.