‘Giorgio de Chirico. Metaphysical Apparitions’

The first big exhibition by the master of metaphysical painting entitled ‘Giorgio de Chirico. Apparizioni metafisiche’ (‘Giorgio de Chirico. Metaphysical Apparitions’) made its debut in Russia. The exhibition is a historic event if we consider that in 1929 only four of the artist’s works had been displayed in Moscow and some of his drawings and etchings were shown in 1930.
The exhibition will be hosted at the Tretjakov State Gallery from 20 April to 23 July 2017 and is curated by art historians Gianni Mercurio and Tatiana Gorjacheva. It was organised thanks to the partnership between the Tretjakov Gallery, the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation and important Italian and European museums including the National Art Gallery of Rome, the MART of Rovereto, the Centre Pompidou and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
The more than 100 works on display give an exhaustive overview of Giorgio de Chirico’s artistic career, spanning from his first metaphysical paintings to the period of his collaboration with the journal ‘Valori Plastici’, to his neo-Baroque compositions, his sculptures and stage settings. Of special relevance in this context are the costumes that de Chirico designed for Sergej Djagilev’s ballet ‘Le Bal’ in 1929, which was performed in Montecarlo and in Paris. The opening ceremony was attended by a large number of personalities from the world of art and culture, including Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation, Zelfira Tregulova, Director of the Tretjakov Gallery, Paolo Picozza, President of the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation, and the Italian Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Cesare Maria Ragaglini.
The catalogue of the exhibition was especially published by the Italian Cultural Institute in Moscow and contains expert contributions by international scholars, converting it into a milestone in the art history studies on de Chirico. The event received wide media coverage by the major Russian radio and TV channels and by both the Italian and Russian printed press (Corriere della Sera, Art Newspaper, Giornale dell’Arte, Izvestija, Kommersant and TASS, along with many more).