Metaphysical Still Life with Classical Head, Chirico, Signed, Framed, 1988

About the Item

Chirico. A dense metaphysical assemblage: a white plaster head with closed eyes and a curling beard sits at the right, propped among stacked canvases, a scrolled Ionic volute, a fluted column, a red-brick wall and a small painted pediment. Everything is described with firm dark contours and broad, flat brushwork in a muted range of terracotta, cream, umber and slate, punctuated by one saturated blue rectangle. Perspective is deliberately unstable, with objects tipping toward the viewer on a warm plank floor. Surface texture is visibly brushy with soft ridges where the paint is loaded. Medium: oil on canvas. Signed lower centre, on the plank floor, reading "Chirico 1988". Inscribed on the reverse or mount: Chirico 1988. Condition: No tears or losses visible; the paint film is sound with normal brush relief. Some surface sheen and glare in the raking-light shots.

About the Artist

Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) was the Greek born Italian painter who founded metaphysical art and is famous for enigmatic piazzas and still lifes with classical statuary. He died in Rome in 1978, ten years before the 1988 date on this canvas, so the painting is a later decorative homage in his manner rather than a work by the artist himself.

Details

Creator:

Chirico

Creation Year:

later 20th century (dated 1988 in the signature)

Dimensions:

Height: 49.5 in (125.73 cm)
Width: 37.25 in (94.61 cm)
outside of frame

Medium:

oil on canvas

Period:

20Th

Condition:

Offered in the condition shown in the photographs.

Reference Number:

VO-161

Documentation:

no certificate or gallery label photographed

Gallery Location:

Chirico 1988