Vera Gavrielidou-Hadjida [Zafiri] belonged to the generation of artists who began to return to Cyprus during the 1960s, after studying abroad, especially at fine arts schools in Britain. That generation was identified with the inception of the Republic of Cyprus and expressed the new spirit, values and orientations of the recently established Cypriot State.

This painting in the A. G. Leventis Gallery Collection falls into the first period of the artist’s career and was shown at her first solo exhibition, in May 1962. At this exhibition, Gavrielidou-Hadjida presented several works featuring built landscapes, particularly urban ones, using an abstract vocabulary and a geometrical spatio-plastic style. The title of this particular work is not known. The 1962 exhibition catalogue lists such titles as Church, Building, Road, Neighbourhood, Town and Houses, one of which could apply to it. The oil painting depicts a built space, whose type is defined by the two large, Gothic-style arches, typical of medieval monuments, churches and the traditional Cypriot residence. The artist split lines, surfaces and volumes, elements which she then recomposed to create a new visual reality which obeys geometric harmonies. The geometric shapes merge into each other, contributing to the poetic transformation of space. The work is characterised by a dark-coloured palette, immobility and strict geometric organisation. While maintaining references to visual reality, Gavrielidou-Hadjida negotiated it by reshaping it on the basis of a personal viewing of Cubism and its British version, Vorticism.