Lot 332
  • 332

Giorgio de Chirico

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Giorgio de Chirico
  • Meditazione automnale (Autumnal Meditation)
  • Signed G. de Chirico (lower left); signed and inscribed Questa pittura metafisica; "Meditazione automnale," é opera a autentica, da me eseguita a firmata. Giorgio de Chirico (on the reverse)
  • Oil on canvas
  • 15 3/4 by 19 3/4 in.
  • 40 by 50.2 cm

Provenance

Florence Art Gallery, Florence
Mary & Harry L. Dalton, Charlotte (acquired from the above in 1962)
Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte (a gift from the above and sold: Christie's, New York, May 13, 1998, lot 311)
Private Collection, Brussels

Exhibited

Greensboro, University of North Carolina, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Paintings from the Collection of Harry L. Dalton of Charlotte, North Carolina, 1964, no. 114
Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, Selections from The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Dalton, 1965, no. 18, illustrated in the catalogue

Condition

The work is in very good condition. The canvas has not been lined and the colors are rich and vibrant. The varnish is a little uneven and peeling along the top center edge. Under UV light: certain pigments fluoresce though a masking varnish is difficult to read through.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Representing one of the most iconic images of De Chirico's art, Meditazione automnale depicts an enigmatic, desolate urban setting, its eerie quality characteristic of his metaphysical paintings. Meditazione automnale belongs to a series of De Chirico's paintings of Italian city squares, most of which are conspicuously devoid of human presence. These paintings retain a majestically quiet, enigmatic mood and timeless quality.

The center of the square is occupied by the statue of a sleeping, draped woman on a large pedestal, casting a long, dramatic shadow. This image was inspired by the antique sculpture of Ariadne, most probably one of the Roman copies of the lost Hellenistic statue, which the artist would have seen in Florence or at the Vatican. By referencing the myth of Ariadne, the artist instills the entire composition with a dream-like atmosphere. Quoting the artist's own writing, James Thrall Soby explained how a general premise of melancholy, central to De Chirico's metaphysical paintings, was derived from the writing of Friedrich Nietzsche: "As to the derivation of the Italian squares or 'memories of Italy,' the artist gives due credit to Nietzsche by describing in his autobiography what seems to him to have been the German philosopher's most remarkable innovation: 'This innovation is a strange and profound poetry, infinitely mysterious and solitary, based on Stimmung (which might be translated...as atmosphere), based, I say, on the Stimmung of an autumn afternoon when the weather is clear and the shadows are longer than in summer, for the sun is beginning to be lower...' There is no reason to doubt that Nietzsche's prose played a key part in stimulating the painter's interest in creating a poetic reconstruction of the dream-lit piazzas of Italy" (James Thrall Soby, Giorgio de Chirico, New York, 1955, pp. 27 & 28).