- 332
Giorgio de Chirico
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
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
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
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
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).