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
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
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
$349
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
$1,250
H 12.5 in W 9.75 in D 0.75 in
Cornucopia (limited edition hardback monograph hand signed by Damien Hirst)
By Damien Hirst
Located in New York, NY
Damien Hirst Cornucopia, 2010 Limited edition hardback monograph (hand signed by Damien Hirst) Hand signed in ink by Damien Hirst on the first front end page 12 1/2 × 9 3/4 × 3/4 inches This limited edition illustrated hardback monograph, with no dust jacket, exactly as issued, was published on the occasion of the artist's show at Musee Oceanographique de Monaco in April 2010, 'Cornucopia' celebrates Hirst's paintings and sculptures from 1994-2009." This book was gifted by Damien Hirst to a member of an American Rock & Roll band that Hirst befriended. Stated Limited Edition of 2000 (unnumbered) About the book: Publisher: Musée Océanographique de Monaco, 2010 Text: English / French. 160 pgs with color illustrations Limited Edition: 2000 (the regular edition is not signed; this was exceptionally hand signed by Hirst) About Damien Hirst: People are afraid of change, so you create a kind of belief for them through repetition. It’s like breathing. I’ve always been drawn to series and pairs. A unique thing is quite a frightening object. —Damien Hirst Since emerging onto the international art scene in the late 1980s, Damien Hirst has created installations, sculptures, paintings, and drawings that examine the complex relationships between art and beauty, religion and science, and life and death. From serialized paintings of multicolored spots to animal specimens...
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset
$2,443
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-Didier, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
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
$29,088
H 11.03 in W 14.18 in D 1.19 in
Vitraux pour Jérusalem - Illustrated Book by M. Chagall, 1962
By Marc Chagall
Located in Roma, IT
"Vitraux pour Jerusalem" is one of the most important books illustrated by Marc Chagall and considered as one of his editorial masterpieces. Th...
Paper, Lithograph
$40,000
H 11.42 in W 15.36 in D 3 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
The Dog Show
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
Measures 71.5 x 49.5 cm. Never framed. An original exhibition poster from the 1990s that features Hockney's artwork of his beloved Stanley and Boodge. David Hockney (born 1937) is...
Paper, Lithograph
$9,075
H 11.15 in W 8.78 in D 0.2 in
La Chèvre-Feuille - Illustrations by Pablo Picasso and G. Hugnet - 1943
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Roma, IT
La Chèvre-Feuille is an original Modern Rare book illustrated by Pablo Picasso and written by Georges Hugnet (11 July 1906 – 26 June 1974) in 1943 . Origina...
Etching
$1,706
H 30.01 in W 20.01 in
The Arrival of Spring Royal Academy Exhibition Posters Full Set
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
Full set of four The Arrival of Spring, Normandy exhibition posters. Published by the Royal Academy, London. 2020. Each 76.2 x 50.8 cm. During the pandemic, Hockney created 116 artwo...
Paper, Lithograph
$498Sale Price|20% Off
H 16.54 in W 23.63 in
Chroessi Schnell - "Schizophrenic Landscape" - surrealist landscape drawing
By Chroessi Schnell
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Chroessi Schnell - "Schizophrenic Landscape". Surrealism, abstract forms, dream universe. It is an extended version of the Alienations of the maps of "Münsterland" where my mother ...
Paper
$1,842
H 35.2 in W 10.01 in
Remember That You Cannot Look at The Sun or Death For Very Long
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
Lithographic poster with a yellow silk screen overlay on 170gsm paper. Released by CIRCA in 2021. Limited edition of 3,000 prints. 89.4 x 25.4 cm. The print comes with a stamped dat...
Paper, Lithograph
Barbican Centre for the Arts Exhibition Poster
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
Original exhibition poster produced when Hockney exhibited his work at the Barbican Centre in London. Features part of Hockney's Cubistic Bar artwork, a period where he explored Cubi...
Paper, Lithograph
$1,160
H 30.01 in W 20.01 in
The Arrival of Spring, Normandy Royal Academy Exhibition Poster
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
The Arrival of Spring, Normandy No.340 exhibition poster. Published by the Royal Academy, London. 2020. 76.2 x 50.8 cm. During the pandemic, Hockney created 116 artworks that capture...
Paper, Lithograph
Spring's First Present, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
A vibrant American goldfinch perches on a slender branch, taking center stage as nature's most charming messenger. The striking contrast between the bird's sunn...
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