Swiss artist Christian Brechneff’s love affair with the small Greek island of Sifnos began in the summer of 1972 when he was a young, 21-year-old struggling artist seeking inspiration to paint. Straight from the London Royal College of Art he planned to visit the isolated island of Symi but a travel agent at Syndagma told him that he had to be “joking” as it was almost difficult to get there and redirected him to Sifnos.

He fell in love immediately! Now aged 64, he lives in the U.S. after three decades on Sifnos where he wrote the book “The Greek House: The Story of a Painter’s Love Affair with the Island of Sifnos”. A New York Times reviewer said that after he read the book he wanted to drop everything but that may have required “time travel” because the Sifnos that Brechneff describes in the book may no longer exist. Back then, it had goat trails for roads and lacked a ferry dock. Brechneff says that the changes haven’t ruined Sifnos that is a magical place.

Hear the artist tell his tale –

See photos of the artist then and now, his artworks and the island:

Brechneff and the early Sifnos –

He had the need to leave the world behind and be alone with the elements

The locals welcomed him and he was charmed by them

His studio on Sifnos – he says that other artists were also on the island eg Panagiotis Tetsis

The artist and his partner – Tim Lovejoy – he says that the island helped him sort out his confused sexuality

The artist these days –

The artist and his partner today

Still in love with Sifnos

The book he wrote about his love affair, written with his lover

The artworks created on Sifnos

The artist says he fell in love with the island and this shows in his works… On Sifnos, he is known as “Christakis”.

 Sifnos, the island of breathtaking beauty as it is today – 

Artist’s bio:

Christian Brechneff was born in the Belgian Congo in 1950 and was educated in Switzerland and the United States (St. Olaf College). In 1975 he received his master of arts degree from the Royal College of Art in London. He has exhibited in Switzerland, Spain, England, Germany, Sri Lanka, and the United States, and his paintings appear in public and private collections all over the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Brechneff is also the author of Homage: Encounters with the East, a book of travel drawings published in 2007. He lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut. You can visit his website at http://www.christianbrechneff.com/