Background
Costakis, George was born in 1913 in Moscow. Son of a wealthy Greek tobacco merchant who later lost his tobacco plantations in Uzbekistan.
Costakis, George was born in 1913 in Moscow. Son of a wealthy Greek tobacco merchant who later lost his tobacco plantations in Uzbekistan.
Famous Russian art collector of Greek parentage known in 1960s Moscow, as the ‘crazy Greek who buys junk’. Saved from destruction more than 2000 masterpieces by pioneers of Russian avant-garde art. In the 1920s, served as a choirboy at the Orthodox church in Pushkin Square.
At an early age, started collecting rare stamps, Russian icons, porcelain, Russian silver and other objets d’art. After the 1917 Revolution, a minor employee at the Greek Embassy in Moscow, then a chauffeur at the Canadian Embassy with only a modest salary but in foreign currency (which increased his buying power enormously). After Stalin’s death, started a search for forgotten artists, their widows or other relations.
Met the remarkable Vladimir Tatlin, Rodchenko, and Rodchenko’s wife, the artist Stepanova. Found some 100 artists, participants in the mighty Russian avant-garde movement from 1910-1925. By the mid-1960s, was a major collector.
His collection attracted the interest of several Western VIPs including Senator Edward.