Giorgio de Chirico

Private Collection, New York (acquired by 1976)
Thence by descent
Acquired from the above

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is unlined and has never been removed from its original stretcher. There is faint cracking to the paint layer but it is neither unstable nor unsightly. The painting is cleaned and lightly varnished. There is a retouch beneath the marble columns in the lower right, two tiny retouches in the columns themselves also in the lower right, and one other retouch on the bottom edge in the center. Otherwise, apart from a spot or two on the left side of the tent, there are no retouches. The thinness to the paint layer in the red horse, for instance, is original and the darker spots in the sky on the right are also original. The painting should be hung as is. 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.

Born in Volos, Greece, to Italian parents, Giorgio de Chirico was surrounded by imagery of antiquity from an early age. Classical mythology, history and architecture provided an endless source of inspiration for the artist, who in the 1920s began to combine renderings of related material—for example horses, temples and gladiators—in unexpected settings, thereby creating images of mystical, dream-like quality.

Although his turning to Neoclassicism and away from Surrealism was partly influenced by the rappel à l'ordre prevalent in the years after World War I, de Chirico painted in a highly individual and innovative manner, creating one of the most original bodies of work in twentieth-century art. According to James Thrall Soby, there were three principal factors underlying de Chirico's oeuvre of this period: "The first of these was his absorption in the art of the past, stimulated by his postwar studies in the great museums of Rome and Florence and by his discussions with Nicola Lochoff. The second may well have been his regard for Picasso who, beginning in 1917, had alternately painted classical-realistic pictures and abstract works. Picasso's neo-classic paintings and drawings undoubtedly were known to de Chirico... A third factor, accounting in good part for de Chirico's 1925-28 paintings of ancient ruins, gladiators and wild horses, was his enthusiasm for Sir James George Frazer's travel account of classical Greece, published in French in 1923 as Sur les Traces de Pausanias" (James Thrall Soby, Giorgio de Chirico, New York, 1966, p. 162).