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The Teriade Museum
In the southern Mitilene suburb of Varia (served by buses from the local bus station - look for ΒΑΡΕΙΑ on the destination board) this is a must for anyone with
an interest in 20th century art. 
Teriade (real name Stratis Eleftheriades) was a native of Mitilene who went to Paris in 1915 at the age of eighteen to study law,
but who instead became an art critic, patron, and,
most importantly, publisher.
From 1937 to 1975 he commissioned most of the
significant artists of the first half of the century to produce
series of works for his quarterly journal 'Verve'
or the later 'Grands Livres'.
The results are displayed here in sixteen rooms
over two floors of his mansion, which he bequeathed to the city.
 Teriade by Giacometti 1960
"..lithographs, engravings, woodblock prints
and watercolours by the likes of Miró, Chagall, Picasso,
Matisse, Le Corbusier, Léger, Roualt and Villon...
an astonishing collection for a relatively remote Aegean island,
and one which deserves a leisurely perusal."
(Marc Dubin, Rough Guide to the Dodecanese and the East Aegean,
1999 edition)
A smaller building in the grounds houses the Theophilos Museum,
devoted to the works of the local naive painter Theophilos Hadzimihaïl,
who was discovered and supported in his later years by Teriade.
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