MUSE of the MEDITERRANEAN

Why is the blue-chip art world converging on a tiny Greek island? Tony Perrottet explores Hydra, where chill vibes meet cutting-edge creativity.

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TRAVELING TO HYDRA is normally a relaxing, almost soporific affair. The tiny Greek island, only 90 minutes by ferry from Athens, has been renowned for generations as a dreamy, car-free outpost where the only traffic sound is the clip-clop of donkey hooves and the most stressful decision is which white wine to choose with dinner. But I was heading there in mid-June, when Hydra is an offbeat stop on the art-world circuit and the energy resembles that of a wild night at Art Basel Miami Beach.

The cultural frenzy had begun earlier that day in Athens, with brunch at the art-filled mansion of Greek collectors Dakis and Lietta Joannou. It was a lavish affair with a book bazaar, buffet, and cocktail bar spilling onto expansive, sun-dappled patios where celebrity artists like the Joannous’ friend Jeff Koons mingled with elegantly coiffed curators from Zurich, London, and Cologne.

Mid-afternoon, I joined a group of fashionable Greek artists in a convoy of taxis bound for the Athenian port of Piraeus, just in time to catch the 5:30 p.m. fast ferry across the Saronic Gulf to Hydra. Soon we were all gaping in wonder at the first glimpse of the fabled island that Henry Miller memorably described in 1939 as having a “wild and naked perfection.” He praised its “aesthetically perfect” port, where blue-and-white buildings cluster like a stadium above the harbor in “the very epitome of...flawless anarchy.”

No sooner had we stepped ashore than we were whisked via a five-minute boat ride to Mandraki Bay, where the gallery Wilhelmina’s has operated in a splendid 19th-century mansion since 2023. As the sun dipped below the horizon, a raucous reception began for a group show called “Magic Mirror,” which showcased 33 emerging Greek and international artists, the majority of whom were women. Wine flowed. Tables groaned with treats: plates of seafood, bowls of Greek salad, tubs of plump olives. More guests arrived by foot and boat, until the gallery was mobbed.