Giorgio de Chirico (Volo 1888-Roma 1978)

Born in Volo, Greece, in 1888, Giorgio de Chirico moved in 1906 after brief stops in Venice and Milan, then settled in Munich where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts. During this period, de Chirico devoted himself to the study of Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger, reading Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and Weininger with great interest. In 1909 he returned to Milan, painting paintings influenced by Böcklin. The following year he moved with his family to Florence, where his first metaphysical painting, 'L'énigme d'un après-midi d'automne,' inspired by a vision he had in Piazza Santa Croce, was born. In 1911 he arrived in Paris, developing the theme of the Italian Piazza, and participated for the first time in an exhibition at the 1912 Salon d'Automne. In March 1913 he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. Returning to Italy in 1915, de Chirico moved to Ferrara, beginning to paint the first 'Metaphysical Interiors'. In 1919 he moved to Rome, where he held his first solo exhibition at the Casa d'Arte Bragaglia. During this period, de Chirico rediscovered the art of the great masters in museums and began making copies of Italian Renaissance masters. In Florence he studied the technique of tempera and panel painting. In 1921 he held a solo exhibition at the Galleria Arte in Milan. In 1922 he opened a major exhibition at the Galerie Paul Guillaume in Paris, showing fifty-five works, with an introduction signed by André Breton. In 1925 he moved to Paris, beginning research on 'Metaphysics of Light' and Mediterranean myth, developing themes such as Archaeologists, Horses by the Sea, Trophies, Landscapes in the Room, Furniture in the Valley and Gladiators. In 1932 he participated in the 18th Venice Biennale and the following year in the 5th Milan Triennale, for which he executed the monumental fresco 'Italian Culture.' In February 1935 he participated in the II Quadriennale in Rome with forty-five works, including seven paintings on the new theme of 'Mysterious Baths.' In 1936 he moved to New York, exhibiting his recent works at the Julien Levy Gallery. In 1938 he returned to Italy, to Milan, and then moved back to Paris. In 1947 he moved his studio and home to Piazza di Spagna, Rome, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1968, at the age of eighty, de Chirico began a new period of research known as 'Neometaphysics,' painting works on meditation and reinterpretation of the subjects of his painting and graphic art of the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s.