By Anne Leader
Giorgio De Chirico died in Rome on 20 November 1978 at the age of 90. De Chirico was one of the founders of pittura metafisica, in which recognizable subjects are shown with deliberately subverted perspective and scale. His surreal cityscapes explore themes of mythology and nostalgia.
In 2013 Cristina Ruiz reported in The Art Newspaper how De Chirico deliberately backdated some of his works to increase their value. The Archive for Metaphysical Art, an independent organization in Milan, has undertaken a comprehensive challenge to the authentications by the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation.
Further reading: Matthew Gale. “De Chirico, Giorgio.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
Piazza d’Italia, 1913 or 1933?
Ariadne, 1913 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn, 1995 © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)
Guillaume Apollinaire, oil on canvas, 1914 (Paris, Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne); © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome, photo credit: CNAC/MNAM/Dist. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY