Giorgio de Chirico

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Description

Giorgio de Chirico
L’ABBRACCIO DI ETTORE E ANDROMACA (THE EMBRACE OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE)
inscribed G. De Chirico, numbered 7/8, stamped Fonderia d’Arte Tesconi and with the Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico stamp, numbered 027
bronze
262 by 90 by 117cm.
103 by 35 1/2 by 46in.

Provenance

Gallery Medusa, Rome
Tony Allen (acquired from the above)
A gift from the above to the present owner

Literature

Claudio Bruni Sakraischik (ed.), Catalogo generale, Giorgio de Chirico, 1930-1950, Milan, 1987, vol. VIII, no. 719, illustration of another cast n.p.

Catalogue Note

L’abbracio di Ettore e Andromaca depicts an intimate encounter between husband and wife as narrated in Homer’s epic poem The Iliad. It captures the moment when Trojan soldier Hector bids farewell to his beloved wife Andromache, mother of his infant son, as he prepares to defend his city against the assailing Greeks; he will ultimately meet his death at the hands of notorious warrior Achilles. Giorgio de Chirico contrasts the coldness and immobile permanence of the bronze with the inevitable and tragic fate of the lovers, captured poignantly in what will forever be their final moment together.

While perhaps best known for his paintings, in which the characters of Hector and Andromache and recurrent subjects, De Chirico was fascinated by sculpture, and continually included representations of statues in his painted works, believing them to have an alluring spectral quality. In the 1930s, the artist began to experiment with terracotta and by the 1960s was producing bronze editions. Such was the success of his work in this field that in 1972 de Chirico was awarded the prestigious Ibico Reggino Prize for sculpture, alongside British great Henry Moore.