Giorgio de Chirico

Private Collection, Rome
Tornabuoni Arte, Florence
Acquired from the above in 2012

Arona, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Villa Ponti, Fantastico Novecento ad Arona, da Picasso a Kandinsky, 2003, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue
Arona, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Villa Ponti, De Chirico 900. Bellezza e realtà, 2010, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue (titled Il Vaticinatore)

Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, Giorgio de Chirico, i temi della metafisica, Milan, 1985, no. 29, illustrated n.p. (titled Vaticinatore con solido colorado)
Claudio Bruni Sakraischik, Giorgio de Chirico, catalogo generale, opere dal 1931 al 1950, vol. VIII, Milan, 1987, no. 761, illustrated n.p.
Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, De Chirico, Gli anni Trenta, Milan, 1995, no. 56, illustrated p. 338 (titled Vaticinatore)

This painting has been recently restored and should be hung in its current condition. The canvas is not lined but has been treated with a non-wax adhesive; the inscription on the reverse is clearly visible. The painting is quite thickly painted, and there are some vertical cracks to the paint layer that are visible but not disturbing. The paint layer is cleaned, lightly varnished and retouched. There are no abrasions to the paint layer, and it feels very fresh. Under ultraviolet light, one can see retouches in small losses on the top edge, a few isolated vertical cracks in the figure of the mannequin, and in a few places on the left. There are two restorations in the white building between the arched doors. There is a restoration beneath the thigh of the mannequin. There is another long thin restoration running from the mannequin's waist across the striped floor towards the conical shape in the lower left quadrant. No structural breaks are evident on the reverse of the canvas except for one in the upper left, which corresponds to the loss in the white building. The painting should be hung in its current state. The above condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
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.

The celebrated figure of de Chirico's Trovatore series is a re-imagination of the artist himself; an embodiment of the melancholic poet trapped in an enigmatic reality.  "The black lines on the mannequins' heads, which in the earlier versions are conjoined around the mouth area and later around the area of the eye, are metaphysical symbols indicating the possession of a superhuman voice and vision, by which is implied that transcendent, prophetic utterance and the superior vision bestowed, according to Greek legend, by Mnemosyne, goddess of Memory and mother of art, upon poets whom she deprived of the ordinary sight of mortals" (Paolo Baldacci, De Chirico: The Centenary sculptures, Torino, 1995, p. 79).

The faceless man, constructed from an assortment of instruments and geometrical shapes, originated in the intense intellectual and artistic collaboration between de Chirico, his brother Alberto Savinio and the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. "The Italian critic, Raffaele Carrieri, has suggested that the painter's interest in this curious subject matter was aroused by a play, Les chants de la mi-mort, written by de Chirico's brother and published in Apollinaire's magazine, Les soirées de Paris, for July-August, 1914. The drama's protagonist is a 'man without voice, without eyes or face'" (James Thrall Soby, Giorgio de Chirico, New York, 1966, p. 97).

De Chirico himself confirmed that this play was his inspiration when he wrote: "the idea of these large heads shaped like an egg, which one also sees in my standing mannequins of the metaphysical type, came to me from seeing the maquettes designed by my brother who used the pseudonym Alberto Savinio” (Elizabeth Cowling and Jennifer Mundy, On Classical Ground: Picasso, Léger, de Chirico and the New Classicism, 1910-1930 (exhibition catalogue), London, Tate Gallery, 1990, pp. 81-82). The figure of the mannequin, popularized through De Chirico and the Metaphysical painters, was part of a motif which sought a return to the grandeur of Classical Italian art, one which attempted to reveal the enigma of life and reality with deep emotions.