GIORGIO DE CHIRICO AMONG “SILENT LIVES” AND IDOL SCULPTURES
A sense of disorientation, suspended atmospheres, long shadows and imaginary silences are the unmistakable characteristics of the magical universe of Giorgio De Chirico, the brilliant and versatile representative of the Metaphysical School, inspirer to the Surrealists, icon of the Twentieth Century and “Master”; his works have forged movements, and inspired “manifestos” and ever more modern languages.
His amazing pictorial production began with a phase he himself defined as inspired by Böcklin, though soon enough it was studded by the success of his first metaphysical subjects, of which he wrote: “[...] I had begun to paint subjects in which I tried to express that strong and mysterious feeling I had discovered in Nietzsche’s books: melancholy […]”. Several years later, he published a text entitled We, the Metaphysicists in which he articulated the “theory” of his art and of his beloved figures: “[…] Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were the first to teach the profound significance of nonsense in life, and how this non-sense could be turned into art […]. The good, new creators are philosophers who have reached beyond philosophy”.
These words encapsulate the essence of his art and the reason for a periodic return to themes and figures which, throughout an incredibly long career, have punctuated his works, both in painting and sculpture. Subjects like the Trovatore or Hector and Andromache are re-interpreted from different points of view and under a new light. The dark and severe atmospheres pervaded by apprehension of the early years are transformed by the use of bright colors which transmit a greater sense of serenity.
It is the incursion into sculpture, initiated between the Thirties and Forties with the production of terracotta and bronze items, which will be celebrated in the Brevis pro plastica oratio, where the sculptor is defined as “the par excellence maker”. His return to sculpture in the Sixties is not at all surprising, first with the realization in bronze of his own terracotta items and then through the creation of new motifs inspired by the themes of the so-called New Metaphysics which gives birth to an extraordinarily fascinating universe populated by “Unsettling Muses”, by armies of melancholic and enigmatic mannequins, and by mythological creatures who seem to come right out of the canvas, becoming tridimensional, almost alive. In this triumph of iconic figures, his still life paintings seem to blend into the corpus of his works with difficulty. Nevertheless, by analyzing the atmospheres which pervade his omnivorous and transversal production, it emerges that this genre, which represents the silent life of objects and things, is nothing else but the translation onto the canvas of a calm life, without noise or movement, an existence expressed through volume, form, and plasticity. It can be said that in these works he was able to express his Metaphysics in the best possible way, giving the objects a solidity which almost allows us to feel their role in space, in the air, symbols of silent lives, melancholic, overrunning with mystery and vanitas: the perfect synthesis of his metaphysics.
Aste Bolaffi has the privilege of presenting in its Twentieth Century Art catalogue some of the most significant examples of the different souls which constitute Giorgio De Chirico’s artistic production, intriguing and fascinating pieces carefully selected from prestigious private collections.
by FRANCESCA BENFANTE
His amazing pictorial production began with a phase he himself defined as inspired by Böcklin, though soon enough it was studded by the success of his first metaphysical subjects, of which he wrote: “[...] I had begun to paint subjects in which I tried to express that strong and mysterious feeling I had discovered in Nietzsche’s books: melancholy […]”. Several years later, he published a text entitled We, the Metaphysicists in which he articulated the “theory” of his art and of his beloved figures: “[…] Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were the first to teach the profound significance of nonsense in life, and how this non-sense could be turned into art […]. The good, new creators are philosophers who have reached beyond philosophy”.
These words encapsulate the essence of his art and the reason for a periodic return to themes and figures which, throughout an incredibly long career, have punctuated his works, both in painting and sculpture. Subjects like the Trovatore or Hector and Andromache are re-interpreted from different points of view and under a new light. The dark and severe atmospheres pervaded by apprehension of the early years are transformed by the use of bright colors which transmit a greater sense of serenity.
It is the incursion into sculpture, initiated between the Thirties and Forties with the production of terracotta and bronze items, which will be celebrated in the Brevis pro plastica oratio, where the sculptor is defined as “the par excellence maker”. His return to sculpture in the Sixties is not at all surprising, first with the realization in bronze of his own terracotta items and then through the creation of new motifs inspired by the themes of the so-called New Metaphysics which gives birth to an extraordinarily fascinating universe populated by “Unsettling Muses”, by armies of melancholic and enigmatic mannequins, and by mythological creatures who seem to come right out of the canvas, becoming tridimensional, almost alive. In this triumph of iconic figures, his still life paintings seem to blend into the corpus of his works with difficulty. Nevertheless, by analyzing the atmospheres which pervade his omnivorous and transversal production, it emerges that this genre, which represents the silent life of objects and things, is nothing else but the translation onto the canvas of a calm life, without noise or movement, an existence expressed through volume, form, and plasticity. It can be said that in these works he was able to express his Metaphysics in the best possible way, giving the objects a solidity which almost allows us to feel their role in space, in the air, symbols of silent lives, melancholic, overrunning with mystery and vanitas: the perfect synthesis of his metaphysics.
Aste Bolaffi has the privilege of presenting in its Twentieth Century Art catalogue some of the most significant examples of the different souls which constitute Giorgio De Chirico’s artistic production, intriguing and fascinating pieces carefully selected from prestigious private collections.
by FRANCESCA BENFANTE