The paintings of Giorgio de Chirico are among the most iconic of Italian 20th-century art, but few know about the artist’s prolific literary legacy. In an unprecedented exhibition, Tornabuoni Art is exhibiting over 25 works spanning the artist’s entire career, alongside original manuscripts that offer unique insight into the pictorial world of Giorgio de Chirico.
The exhibition, curated by Katherine Robinson, member of the scientific committee of the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation in Rome, will be divided into nine sections, each representing a different theme explored by the artist throughout his career: Italian Piazzas, Metaphysical Interiors, Portraits and Self-Portraits, Still-Lifes, Mannequins, Horses and Horsemen, Gladiators, Mythology and Mysterious Baths. This unique exhibition and the accompanying scholarly catalogue include theoretical and critical essays, poems, prose and love letters, enabling visitors to find a new reading of de Chirico’s famous works through his own words. The show also sheds light on the artist’s unusual artistic career, which began with the more radical and much admired metaphysical period and evolved into a more “baroque”, painterly style.
The show includes important loans such as the masterpiece The Revolt of the Sage, 1916 and one of the first drawings of the Piazze d’Italia from the Estorick Collection in London. These key works will be exhibited alongside writings in de Chirico’s own hand, including excerpts from Hebdomeros, a novel written by the artist in 1929 that reveals much of his creative universe. Other highlights include a 2.5 metre-long painting of Divinities by the Sea (1936) and a Nude from 1930, which Tornabuoni is proud to announce has recently been identified as a portrait of de Chirico’s lover Cornelia.
| Duration | 04 October 2017 - 12 January 2018 |
| Times | Monday to Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Saturday 10:30 am - 5:30 pm or by appointment |
| Cost | Free |
| Venue | Tornabuoni Art |
| Address | 46 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4JN |
| Contact | / info@tornabuoniart.com / www.tornabuoniart.com |