Giorgio De Chirico Biography

Giorgio De Chirico was an Italian painter, engraver, and sculptor, one of the main exponents of Metaphysical Painting. He was born in Volos, Greece, in 1888 to Italian parents of noble origins. In 1891, his brother Andrea Alberto was born, who in 1914 would take the stage name Alberto Savinio for his work as a musician, writer, and painter. In 1900, Giorgio De Chirico enrolled at the Polytechnic of Athens where he began studying painting. In 1906, he returned to Italy with his mother and brother, first settling in Milan and then in Florence, where he would enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1907, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich where he attended the classes of Franz von Stuck and became interested in the art of Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger.
In 1909, he returned to Milan where he reunited with his mother and brother. In 1910, during a stay in Florence with his mother, he painted The Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon, which marked the beginning of the Metaphysical Squares series. From 1911 to 1915, he lived in Paris with his brother Alberto and came into contact with artists such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Max Jacob, and Pablo Picasso. Between 1912 and 1913, he began painting his first Mannequins featured in the works The Disquieting Muses and The Troubadour. The figure of the mannequin, representing the contemporary man-automaton, was inspired by a character from a play by his brother Alberto Savinio, the faceless man.
At the outbreak of the First World War, the two brothers enlist and are sent to Ferrara in the 27th Infantry Regiment. During this period, the De Chirico brothers become friends with Carlo Carrà, Filippo de Pisis, and Giorgio Rea. In particular, Filippo de Pisis often hosts his friends in his apartment at Palazzo Calcagnini, on Via Montebello, influencing the metaphysical sensibility of Giorgio De Chirico, who during the Ferrara period begins the cycle of Metaphysical Interiors.
In 1924, he met and married the actress and dancer Raissa Calza, and together they settled in Paris. In the French capital, Raissa abandoned dance and resumed her archaeology studies at the Sorbonne. Inspired by his partner's studies, Giorgio De Chirico began painting archaeological subjects, a tribute to classicism, but presented in a disturbing way. Among the works from this period, we remember Hector and Andromache and Roman Villas. The marriage did not last long; in fact, at the end of 1930, the painter fell in love with Isabella Far, who became his second wife and remained by his side until his death.
From 1925 to 1935, Giorgio De Chirico delves into the study of the Metaphysics of Light and the Mediterranean Myth, giving rise to the cycles of the Archaeologists, the Horses by the Sea, the Trophies, the Landscapes in the Room, the Furniture in the Valley, and the Gladiators.
In 1924 and 1932, he participated in the Venice Biennale and in 1935 in the Rome Quadriennale. Between 1936 and 1937, he settled in New York where he exhibited his works at the Julien Levy Gallery.
In 1970 at Palazzo Reale di Milano, an important retrospective of the artist takes place. Giorgio De Chirico dies in Rome on November 20, 1978, after a long illness.