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Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
GIORGIO DE CHIRICO Miei amici orientali o gli amici mediterranei.
Color lithograph on Japon nacré, 1970. 585x445 mm; 23x17 1/2 inches, full margins. Artist's proof, aside from the Roman numeral edition of 25 and the Arabic numeral edition of 99. Signed, titled and inscribed "P.d.a." in pencil, lower margin. With the artist's blind stamp lower left. Published by Alberto Caprini, Rome, with the blind stamp lower right. A very good impression with strong colors.
De Chirico (1888–1978) was a groundbreaking Italian modernist and is considered among the most avant-garde artists of the 20th century. His works are characterized by a dreamlike, metaphysical quality, imbued with surrealist motifs. He embraced Surrealism early in his career and continued to produce popular surrealist imbued work well into his prolific career.
Born in Volos, Greece, de Chirico moved to Italy with his family at the age of 10. As a teenager, he showed an early proclivity for art and in 1906 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. In 1909, he traveled to Munich to continue his studies, and it was here that he encountered the work of the Swiss symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin, whose work had a profound influence on his own paintings.
Returning to Italy in 1910, de Chirico developed his signature style, painting empty city squares and deserted arcades, populated by enigmatic statues and mysterious shadows. He also began to explore the darker side of the human psyche, creating strange, dreamlike scenes that often contained elements of fear and dread. These early works by de Chirico are a foundation of the surrealist movement. In the 1920s, de Chirico's works became increasingly abstract, and he began to explore philosophical, metaphysical and existential themes. Later in life, he also experimented with a variety of different styles, though never diverging far from Surrealism. Brandani 88.
