The progenitor of metaphysical painting — a dreamlike, realist style embracing sharp contrasts, sculpted forms and odd juxtapositions — Giorgio De Chirico profoundly influenced many Surrealist artists of his time. His early sculptures and paintings explored the complexities of the mind and reflected his affinity for contemporary European philosophy and Freudian psychoanalysis. Even though the metaphysical movement lasted only a brief time, he left a strong impression on such legendary surrealists as Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and André Breton.
De Chirico was born in Volos, Greece, to Italian parents. His father was a Sicilian baron and engineer in charge of constructing a railroad in Greece at the time of his son’s birth. In his late teens, De Chirico studied art at various institutions in Athens and Florence. After his father died, in 1905, he enrolled in the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Here, he discovered the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer that would help to shape his future works.
In 1909, De Chirico moved to Milan and then to Florence a year later, where he began experimenting with what would become his metaphysical style. After moving again, this time to Paris in 1911, his brother Alberto Savinio helped him get several small exhibitions of his work that eventually were noticed by Pablo Picasso and the poet Guillaume Apollinaire — and his paintings began to sell.
De Chirico was conscripted into the Italian Army in 1915 but was diagnosed with a mental disorder — likely anxiety — and sent to a military hospital where he met fellow artist Carlo Carrà. Together, they devised the metaphysical painting style that consisted of fantastical images of low-lit town squares uninhabited except for marble sculptures, dummies and stretched shadows, purposefully portrayed with flattened surfaces and warped perspectives.
By the 1920s, De Chirico’s style began incorporating Renaissance and Baroque elements, and later works, from the 1960s and ’70s, brought together neoclassicism, Surrealism and ancient mythology. His art is in major museum collections across the world, including the Tate Museum of Modern Art, in London; the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, in Venice; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.
On 1stDibs, find Giorgio De Chirico prints, drawings, sculptures and more.
Teseo
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in New York, NY
Color etching and aquatint, 1970. Signed by the artist in pencil, lower right. Numbered 2/50 in pencil, lower left. Titled in pencil, lower central. With the artist's blind stamp, l...
Etching, Aquatint
Gladitori
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in New York, NY
Color lithograph, 1963. Signed by artist in pencil, lower right. Numbered 5/95 in pencil, lower left. Titled in pencil, lower center. Prinbted by Alberto Caprini Rome, with the b...
Color, Lithograph
$16,711
Il Trovatore, Chirico, Multiples, 1970's, Bronze, Sculpture, Surrealiste
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in Geneva, CH
Il Trovatore, Chirico, Multiples, 1970's, Bronze, Sculpture, Surrealiste Il trovatore Ed. 250 pcs 1971 Bronze with silver patina H. 31 cm Signed and date...
Bronze
Calligrammes, by Guillaume Apollinaire and Giorgio De Chirico
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in Roma, IT
Format : 2 Volumes, In-4° Typology : Print Suite Edition of 100 copies, including 65 original lithographs by Giorgio De Chirico in the text. This copy is in two volumes, unlike the standard edition printed in a unique volume. This edition is part of the only 6 made on Japan Supernacré Paper...
Handmade Paper
$363
Cruautes de la Nuit - Rare Book Illustrated by Giorgio De Chirico - 1927
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in Roma, IT
Edition of 532 copies. Copy on Holland de Rives. Good conditions, lightly wore on binding. Edition including an illustration by Giorgio De Chirico representing the portrait of the au...
Paper
$2,542
H 15.75 in W 13 in D 0.4 in
François Xavier Lalanne, bird on lillies, 2006
By François-Xavier Lalanne
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Natural history - François-Xavier Lalanne Etching Numbered out of 70 and signed F.X.L. in pencil Robert and Lydie Dutrou editors 2006. Paper size: 40x33cm Work size: 16x19.5cm
Paper
$2,088
H 25.6 in W 21.66 in D 0.99 in
BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON- Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
$40,000
H 11.42 in W 15.36 in
Le Cocu Magnifique -- complete with 12 original etchings
By Pablo Picasso
Located in New York, NY
About In-folio Oblong Dimensions : 29x39 cm. Paris Atelier Crommelynck 1968 Edition #41 of 200 copies including 12 original out-of-text etchings (7 etchings, 4 etchings and aquatint...
Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
$4,163
H 24.02 in W 18.12 in D 1.19 in
Diamonds in Bloom - Original floral realism painting - modern surrealistic art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Mysterious and radiant, Diamonds in Bloom reveals Hallie Packa...
Canvas, Oil
$544
H 8.27 in W 5.52 in D 0.04 in
Les Contes Drolatiques - Rare Book Illustrated by G. Doré - 1861
By Gustave Doré
Located in Roma, IT
Les Contes Drolatiques is an original modern rare book written by Honoré de Balzac (1799 – 1850) and illustrated by Gustave Doré (Strasbourg, 1832 – 23 January 1883) in 1861. Publis...
Paper, Etching
$2,600
H 11 in W 10.5 in
Untitled, Etching on Paper by Modern Indian Artist Ganesh Pyne "In Stock"
By Ganesh Pyne
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Ganesh Pyne - Untitled AP - 6/32 Etching on Paper 11 x 10.5 inches, 1985 ( Unframed & Delivered ) Style : Initially, Pyne painted watercolors and sketches of misty mornings and ways...
Paper, Etching
$53,281
H 11.42 in W 15.36 in D 2.17 in
Le Cocu Magnifique - Complete Suite of Etchings by Pablo Picasso - 1968
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Roma, IT
In-folio Oblong Dimensions : 29x39 cm. Paris Atelier Crommelynck 1968 Edition of 200 copies including 12 original out-of-text etchings (7 etchings, 4 etchings and acquatint and 1 e...
Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
La Garçonne
By Kees van Dongen
Located in OPOLE, PL
Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) - La Garçonne Original Lithograph, pochoir from 1925. Arches paper (no watermark). Dimensions of work: 23.5 x 18 cm Publisher: E. Flammarion Éditeur. ...
Lithograph
$6,400Sale Price|20% Off
H 40 in W 30 in D 3 in
Arabesque, Female Ballet Dancer in Motion, Bronze Gray Bas Relief Sculpture Art
By Eric Bransby
Located in Denver, CO
This stunning figurative bas relief sculpture captures a female ballet dancer gracefully poised in the arabesque position, created by the acclaimed Colorado/Missouri artist Eric Bransby (1916-2020). Crafted from bronze and polymer Forton casting, the piece beautifully exemplifies Bransby’s mastery of motion and form. Provenance: Collection of the artist, Eric Bransby About Eric Bransby: Eric James Bransby was a highly respected muralist, painter, illustrator, and educator. His education at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center included studies with renowned artists like Thomas Hart Benton, Jean Charlot, Boardman Robinson, and Josef Albers. He also studied at the prestigious Yale School of Fine Art. Bransby’s career is defined by his exceptional work as a muralist, with notable commissions including the Rockhurst Library Triptych Mural at the University of Missouri, murals at Brigham Young University, the U.S. Air Force Academy...
Bronze
La Garçonne
By Kees van Dongen
Located in OPOLE, PL
Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) - La Garçonne Original Lithograph, pochoir from 1925. Arches paper (no watermark). Dimensions of work: 23.5 x 18 cm Publisher: E. Flammarion Éditeur. ...
Lithograph
Le Poeme (The Poem)
By Louis Icart
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1928 Medium: Etching and aquatint on wove paper Framed Dimensions: 28.00" x 31.50" Signature: Signed in pencil at lower right, with the artist’s blindstamp at lower left. “C...
Etching, Aquatint
$2,088
H 25.6 in W 21.66 in D 0.99 in
LOVE LIFTS UP - Original people surrealistic painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
We offer complimentary worldwide shipping and cover all tariffs and import taxes for this artwork. This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet C...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 9.73 in W 7.56 in D 0.4 in
Le Mystère Laic - Rare Book Illustrated by Giorgio De Chirico - 1928
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in Roma, IT
Le Mystère Laic is an original modern rare book engraved by Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978) and written by Jean Cocteau (Maisons-Laffitte, 1889 – Milly-la-Forêt,1963) in 1928. Published by Editions des Quatre Chemins, Paris. Original Edition. Format: in 8°. 2875 numbered copies. The book includes Five Full page reproduction drawings. Mint conditions. Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978). The widely renowned precursor of Surrealism was the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978). De Chirico’s definitely ambiguous artworks of cityscapes are the most celebrated examples of a movement called Pittura Metafisica, or Metaphysical Painting. Moving back to Italy after studying in Munich, de Chirico found unseen reality revealed through odd juxtapositions, such as those seen on late autumn afternoons, when the long shadows of the sunset converted vast open squares and silent public monuments into what the painter called “metaphysical towns”. The choice of the term metaphysical to define de Chirico’s canvases implies that these images transcend their physical manifestations. The sense of bizarreness de Chirico evokes with familiar objects and scenes recalls Nietzsche’s “foreboding that underneath this reality in which we live and have our being, another and altogether different reality lies concealed”. Reproductions of De Chirico’s artworks were included in periodicals almost as soon as he did them, and his paintings rapidly influenced artists outside Italy, including both the Dadaists and the Surrealists. The inconsistencies in his work fascinated the Dadaists, whereas the strange mood and unrealistic quality of his artworks enthused and inspired Surrealist artists who wanted to represent the world of dreams. Jean Cocteau (Maisons-Laffitte, 1889 – Milly-la-Forêt,1963). Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was one of the most famous French writer, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. The novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929) and the films Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents Terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orpheus (1949) are his most appreciated works. His circle of friends, lovers and colleagues included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Yul Brynner, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, Albert Gleizes, Igor Stravinsky, Marie Laurencin, María Félix, Édith Piaf, Panama Al Brown...
Paper, Etching
Il Travatore
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in Milford, NH
A fine polished bronze figural sculpture by Greek / Italian artist Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978). De Chirico was born from Italian parents in Volos, Greece, and when his father died...
Bronze
Sold
H 4.14 in W 5.91 in D 0.08 in
Autograph Postcard Signed by Giorgio de Chirico - 1938
By Giorgio De Chirico
Located in Roma, IT
Greetings Autograph postcard signed by de Chirico to the Countess and patron of arts, Anna Laetitia Pecci- Blunt. Paris, January 29th 1938. With stamps and postmarks .In Italian. In...
Paper, Ink