The picturesque village of Potamia is 14 km from the main town of
Limenas on Thasos. Since August 1981, it has had a museum dedicated to the life
and work of Polygnotos Vayis, a famous artist who hailed from Potamia. The museum
is housed in a two-storey stone building, formerly the primary school, in the
centre of the village.
Here visitors may admire a total of 98 sculptures by Vayis. Of these,
25 are very small in size and are therefore displayed all together in a single
showcase. There are also fifteen of Vayis’s paintings from the period 1920-60.
The works of his first period (1919-30) are mostly inspired by ancient Greek history
and mythology and modern Greek history. His materials are plaster, bronze, and
marble. The works of his second period (1932 onwards) tend to be semi-abstract
in style, cast in bronze, stone, or concrete, or sculpted in stone, marble, wood,
or granite. They are figures and heads, stylised moons, eagles, and fish.
There are also a number of monumental works, such as the Bear with
Newborn Cub, Cosmos, and a number of miniature sculptures.
