Nikos Bel-Jon
1911 – 1966
In the late 1940’s and early ’50’s Greek born artist Nikos Bel-Jon developed innovative techniques for creating murals on metal in San Francisco, CA.
During the 50’s and 60’s Bel-Jon was one of the most popular muralists in the United States. Bel-Jon’s work was commissioned by companies like Pfizer, Kaiser Aluminum, Raymond Loewy, US Steel, The F.B.I. – J. Edgar Hoover, The Greek Consulate, Lincoln Center, Air India, as well as many pieces for private individuals.
Nikos Bel-Jon’s brilliant career was cut short by his death in 1966.
The Nikos Bel-Jon Gallery
In addition to his early paintings Bel-Jon created over 180 pieces of his unique metal art. Explore his various periods READ MORE
He painted with light.
His paintbrush was a handful of steel wool and his palette was refracted light. The illusion of form and motion was achieved in his murals by the refraction and diffusion of light from the many and varied angles of of buffed and burnished metal surfaces. READ MORE
Bel-Jon’s Innovative Techniques
His works encompassed murals, decorative structural applications, dividers, doors screens, windows, tables and other appointments in brushed design on sheet metals; mosaics of metals; READ MORE
The Bel-Jon Catalogue
Bel-Jon’s distinctive art was commissioned by Fortune 500 companies as well as private individuals and ranged in size from four square feet to over five hundred square feet. READ MORE
The Bel-Jon Car
The Bel-Jon car was designed in 1956. He named it after his daughter Athena. The 1938 Lincoln Zephyr Coupe was redesigned by building the frame out with clay and then covering it with metal mosaic tiles and fiberglass. The hood and roof of the car were translucent. READ MORE
His Life
Nikos Bel-Jon was born Nicholaos Fotios Baloyannis in the historic village of Valtessiniko, Arcadia, Greece on March 20, 1911. He received a Master of Arts READ MORE
The Bel-Jon Art Preservation Alliance
In August 2024, Preservationist Andrew Cronson discovered that the Bel-Jon mural that had graced the lobby of Pfizer Pharmaceutical’s headquarters for 62 years was scheduled for demolition. READ MORE
Bel-Jon In The Press
His work has been chronicled in two earlier books and major publications like The New York Times, The Associated Press, American Artist, San Francisco Chronicle, Architectural Record, New York Mirror, Popular Mechanics and numerous industry periodicals. READ MORE
On November 25, 2025 an epic book chronicling Nikos Bel-Jon’s life was published by Metaixmio Publications in Athens.
The Missing Man of Mataroa
by Nikos Amanitis
A twenty-seven-meter roll of paper, written in Athens between 1941 and 1944: at once a diary of the Occupation and an unanswered love letter from a young Greek painter to the French woman who had fallen silent at the outbreak of war. Through its pages, the nights and days of a city under siege unfold alongside a longing for Paris in 1939—when the two, fellow students at the École des Beaux-Arts, tried to lose themselves in love while the world prepared to collapse. READ MORE