The Telloglion Art Foundation Museum is housed in a recently constructed building of cutting-edge architectural design in the centre of Thessaloniki, slightly higher up than the colleges of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. It started functioning officially in September 1999.

The mission of the Telloglion is to contribute to progress in research, but also to bring the public in touch with art. To this end it organizes periodic exhibitions and educational programmes, it organizes symposia and seminars, and hosts scientific meetings and conferences.

The centrepiece of the Telloglion Art Foundation collection is Nestoras and Aliki Telloglou’s bequeathal to the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, of their fine collection of works of art and their entire estate for the establishment of a foundation to cultivate art. Mr and Mrs Telloglou’s collection included works of art from various civilizations: idols, mainly from Hellenistic times, Corinthian, Hellenistic and Roman urns, Persian miniatures, specimens of Arabian and Chinese art (vases, wall-hangings, plates), as well as Thai wood-carvings. The main core of the collection was works by significant Greek and European artists of the 19^thand 20^thcenturies; oil-paintings, water colours, drawings, engravings and sculptures. There was also a notable collection of ceramics by Panos Valsamakis.

When the Telloglion Foundation was established the collection was enhanced by the purchase of paintings and sculptures typical of 19^thand 20^thcentury Modern Greek art. Furthermore, the foundation has received significant donations from artists and art lovers. Tonis and Ioanna Spiteri donated their archive to the Telloglion Foundation, their collection of works of art and the entire work of the sculptor Ioanna Spiteri. Many artists have donated specimens of their art to the foundation. This is how the School of the Ionian Islands of the 18^thcentury (Kantounis) and the most significant Greek artists of the 19^thcentury and early 20^thcentury (Gyzis, Savvides, Ioannides, Lytras, Parthenis, Steris, Kontoglou, and Maleas) came to be represented in the Telloglion Art Foundation collection.

The greatest Greek artists of the 20^thcentury, like Spyropoulos, Bouzianis, Tsigkos, Eggonopoulos, Mytaras and many others, are also represented. Many Thessaloniki artists also have works in the collection: Pentzikis, Paralis, N. and X. Sachinis, Venetoulias and Loutsas. The magnificent work “The World of Cyprus” by Diamantis is also part of the foundation’s collection and will be put on permanent display in the museum’s exhibition space.

Sculpture is represented with works by Sklavos, Kapralos, Pastra, Armakolas, Kampadakis, Koulentianos and other important sculptors.

Finally, the foundation’s collection of engravings and sketches, significantly augmented by the Spiteri donation, is also superb.