Giorgio de Chirico: De la Metafisica à la MetafisicaClosed

Exhibition Overview

Once extolled by the surrealists, Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) suddenly transformed his style, only to later return to his roots. With approximately 100 pieces drawn primarily from his widow’s collection, this retrospective exhibition features works from de Chirico’s early days right through to the twilight of his career.

De Chirico was born in Greece to Italian parents, and spent his early adult years in Munich, where he was influenced by the fantastical works of Arnold Böcklin and other artists, as well as the philosophy of Nietzsche. In 1911, he moved to Paris, where he attracted the attention of the art world with works that were grounded in realism but evoked a sense of unreality and mysticism. His paintings featured statues and buildings casting shadows over silent plazas populated only by toys and mannequins. These unique works depicting strange, imaginative spaces and objects came to be known as metaphysical paintings. It was a new style that spoke of the mystery and secrets lurking behind the commonplace, and which was to later became a significant influence on the surrealists*. After the First World War, de Chirico became enamored of classic works. Abruptly, he changed his style and began to produce works using traditional techniques and materials. However, towards the end of his career, he returned to his original style, a tireless creativity driving him to take up new metaphysical themes.

The exhibition focuses on works from the collection of the artist's widow, Isabella de Chirico, which was donated to the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and is supplemented with pieces from Italian galleries and individual collectors, as well as Japanese collections. Taken together, the 100 works represent every stage of de Chirico’s career, and include oil paintings, as well as watercolors, drawings, sculptures, and more.

Almost four-fifths of the featured works are being shown in Japan for the first time. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience the appeal of de Chirico’s surprising and mysterious work, and to trace the seventy-year long career of an artist who continuously sought to add new value to his own artistic world.

* The surrealists included such artists as André Breton, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí.

I. Introduction: Inventing the Metaphysical Style

While spending time in Paris and Ferrara in the 1910s, de Chirico developed his own style of “metaphysical” paintings, depicting mysterious scenes that defied explanation. This section features de Chirico’s works handled by his Parisian art dealer, Paul Guillaume, and the “metaphysical interior” paintings that he began in Ferrara.

Featured works

Le Salut de l’ami lointain (Greetings from a distant friend) (1916)
Private collection, courtesy of Galleria dello Scudo, Verona
Mélancolie hermétique (Hermetic melancholy)(1919)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
©Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Roger-Viollet
Mélancolie hermétique (Hermetic melancholy)
1919, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
©Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Roger-Viollet

II. Return to Classicism

Around 1919, de Chirico visited a large number of art museums, examining the works and techniques of classic paintings, and quite suddenly, he began to produce paintings that marked a return to Classicism. This section displays works featuring subjects such as gladiators and horses that were new to de Chirico at the time, and major self-portraits from the early 1920s. A selection of sketches highlights the various themes that de Chirico was pursuing during this period.

Featured works

Le repos du gladiateur (Gladiators at rest) (1968-1969)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Autoportrait de l’artiste avec sa mère (Self-portrait with the artist's mother) (1921)
Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto

III. Neo-baroque Period: De Chirico as a Pictor Optimus (Best Painter)

In the 1940s, de Chirico’s subjects and style changed once again. Exploring new ways to depict classic styles such as Baroque and Romanticism, de Chirico entered his Neo-baroque period. This selection of beautiful works includes portraits of his wife Isabella, Rubenesque paintings of horses, and landscapes in the style of picture postcards.

Featured works

Nu assis avec draperie rose et jaune (Seated nude with red and gold cloth)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Chevaux antiques au bord de la mer Egée (Antique horses on the Aegean shore) (Late 1950s)
Galleria d’Arte Maggiore di Bologna

IV. Rebirth: Neo Metafisica (Neo-metaphysical)

Even since the 1920s, de Chirico had been producing copies of his earlier metaphysical paintings, but in the late 1960s he entered a new metaphysical phase in which he produced unique works that combined styles and subjects from his earlier pieces. This section includes some of de Chirico’s favorite subjects represented as three-dimensional bronze sculptures.

Featured works

Le Troubadour (The troubadour ) (1955)
Galleria d’Arte Maggiore di Bologna
Offrande à Jupiter (Offer to Jupiter) (1971)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Les Muses Inquiétantes (The disquieting muses)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Idylle antique (antique idyl) (around 1970)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
others

V. Eternal Recurrence: Memories of Apollinaire and Jean Cocteau

De Chirico’s works constantly recall elements from his days in Paris.
Memories of an eternal Paris can be seen in de Chirico’s works. The mysterious baths, sun-drenched plazas, and other new themes that de Chirico explored towards the end of his career came from illustrations he did for Apollinaire’s poetry collection, Calligrammes, and Cocteau’s Mythologie. The works in this section reveal his close connection to Paris and include paintings that could be considered self-portraits, as well works such as L’Or noir that explore the current affairs of the time.

Featured works

Place d’Italie avec soleil éteint, La Place Mystérieuse (An Italian plaza with burning sun, a plaza of mystery) (1971)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Tête d’animal mystérieux (Head of a mysterious animal) (1975)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
L’Or noir (The black gold) (1976)
Private collection