Giorgio deChirico
Biography
Giorgio de Chirico (1888, Volos, Greece – 1978, Rome, Italy) was an Italian painter, writer, and thinker whose work laid the foundation for Metaphysical painting (Pittura Metafisica) and significantly influenced the trajectory of 20th-century modern art. With dreamlike architecture, elongated shadows, and enigmatic iconography, de Chirico created a visual language that would deeply shape Surrealism and philosophical explorations of the image. Born in Greece to Italian parents, de Chirico studied art in Athens, Florence, and Munich, where he was exposed to German Romanticism and the Symbolist philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. These intellectual influences would become central to his artistic vision: a world haunted by nostalgia, mystery, and the strange stillness of time. Between 1911 and 1915, de Chirico produced his most iconic works—deserted city squares, classical statues, arcades, and uncanny juxtapositions—during his time in Paris, where he befriended modernist luminaries including Guillaume Apollinaire, Pablo Picasso, and André Breton. Paintings such as The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon (1909), The Song of Love (1914), and Melancholy and Mystery of a Street (1914) would become emblems of the Metaphysical school: suspended moments outside of time, filled with poetic unease. After World War I, de Chirico's practice shifted toward a more traditional, neoclassical style. This evolution, often misunderstood by contemporary critics, led to tension between his early avant-garde reputation and his later output. Nonetheless, he remained prolific across painting, sculpture, and writing, publishing theoretical texts such as Hebdomeros (1929), a surrealist novel that mirrors the atmospheres of his canvases. Though de Chirico distanced himself from the Surrealists in later years, his early work was foundational to the movement. Artists like Max Ernst, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí cited him as a primary influence, drawn to his ability to evoke the subconscious through architectural silence and object-based symbolism. De Chirico spent his later life in Rome, where he continued to paint, write, and exhibit. He was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1962 and remained a figure of fascination and debate until his death in 1978. Today, his work is housed in major collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Centre Pompidou, and the Giorgio de Chirico House-Museum in Rome.