The Poet and His Muse

Currently not on view

The Poet and His Muse

c. 1925

Giorgio de Chirico (Italian (born Greece), 1888–1978)

Though many of his paintings predate the start of Surrealism, Giorgio de Chirico had a profound impact on the movement. His starkly lit structures, desolate expanses, and inanimate figures are echoed throughout Surrealist landscape and portraiture. De Chirico’s uncanny merging of classical and modern imagery also helped define a new mode for evoking memory and fantasy in the visual arts. In this painting, created during the moment of the artist’s most direct involvement with Surrealism in Paris, mannequins represent a poet, seated, with his muse, whose toga falls back to reveal an interior of colorful blocks and tools.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

The Poet and His Muse

Date:

c. 1925

Artist:

Giorgio de Chirico (Italian (born Greece), 1888–1978)

Medium:

Oil and tempera on canvas

Dimensions:

35 7/8 x 29 inches (91.1 x 73.7 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950

Accession Number:

1950-134-39

Geography:

Made in Europe Possibly made in France, Europe Possibly made in Italy, Europe

Provenance

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Currently not on view