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GIORGIO DE CHIRICO
Italian, 18881978
Andromache, 1916
Oil on panel. 8 x 5 3/4 in. (20.3 x 14.6 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Paul Schectman, Class of 1935. 76.90
Immediately prior to World War I, the Greco-Italian painter Giorgio de
Chirico created enigmatic paintings in which he used a traditional style
to describe not the external world, but haunting dreamscapes infused with
illogical images, bizarre spatial constructions, and a pervasive melancholic
mood. He was greatly inspired by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, who
believed hidden realities were seen in such strange juxtapositions as the
long shadows cast by the setting sun into large open city squares and onto
public monuments. De Chirico called his art "metaphysical," and
with it hoped to destabilize the meaning of everyday objects by making them
symbols of fear, alienation, and uncertainty. His paintings were highly
influential for the Surrealists a decade later in their effort to create
art from the unconscious. Andromache refers to the beautiful and loyal wife
of Hector, the Trojan warrior slain by Achilles in the Iliad. Here
Andromache stands, reduced to simple ovoids, alone in a quiet, almost airless
Italian piazza, her mood reflected in the dark shadows stretching
across the square. The buildings, equally simplified, frame the image, lending
it an almost stage-like quality. |
