Analysis of Giorgio De Chirico 

For my analysis of my first artist, Giorgio De Chirico, I recreated a section from his painting “The Uncertainty of The Poet.” I did a pencil drawing of the figure shown in this piece of work, in order to grasp a better understanding of Chirico’s use of layering in his paintings. From my response to his work, I have found that his use of tone helps to build up his paintings, giving the supposedly still life statue life like qualities, the classic headless figure (supposedly representing Aphrodite) seems far too detailed and twisted for it to be just a statue. I think this creates an atmosphere of wonder about the painting, what was Chirico trying to do here? Naturally, the style of the painting could well fit into the Surrealist movement, although Giorgio was a pre – Surrealist artist, we can definitely see his work changing from his earlier pieces. 

I then made a response to “The Two Masks”, I did this by focusing on half of the painting. I recreated this using oil paints, however just on paper as opposed to on canvas. From this response I found that Chirico’s use of colour contrasts to other sections of the painting, again giving me insight as to how he layered his paintings using colour – red next to white next to the blue of the sky, and also again by his use of tone; ultimately giving his work depth, creating texture through his methods of painting. We could perhaps say that this painting reflects the lives of De Chirico and his Brother, Andrea, showing both of their accomplishments as enigmatic. 

My final response to Giorgio de Chirico’s work is a reproduction of a section from Hector and Andromache. My response to this piece was completed using water colour pencils, in order to show the washy texture of the original painting. I think that using different medias to those that Chirico used has helped me to gain understanding of how he created depth, tone and even shape in his work, allowing me to realise how talented the artist was in order to create this through just using oil paints – which is what I aim to do next; to create pieces showing depth, texture and tone using only oil paints. Hector and Andromache could have many interpretations, however it made me feel that Chirico was trying to express moving on from Cubist ways or producing art – we see Hector made from triangular shapes, where as Andromache is a very flowing character. We could even say that Chirico is possibly saying the changes people can make for love – Andromache being the wife of Hector. 

A2 ART PROJECT OVERVIEW

Proposal for my project:

I intend to investigate the act of Surrealism for my A2 Art project. I have chosen to study this because I like the juxtaposition of perhaps conflicting thoughts, ideas and emotions in one piece. This is something I find interesting, along with the imagination of Surrealist artists to conjure such strange creatures from everyday objects. 

Introduction: 

One of the artists I have chosen to study is Salvador Dali, one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. I love Dali’s work, as he built upon other Surrealist artist, Magritte’s, dream imagery with his own erotically charged, hallucinated visions; it’s as though Dali  sought to release the unbridled imagination of the subconscious. In particular I like his 1930s to early 1940s work, especially the Metamorphosis of Narcissus, Sleep and swans reflecting elephants; all of which were part of Dali’s “paranoiac – critical method”, in order to access what he called “irrational knowledge.” I like the way his work moves and contrasts, with good flow which is something I would like to achieve in my own work.

My second artist for this study is Marc Chagall. The main aspect of their work I will concentrate on is his use of oil on canvas and pen and ink on paper in order to create a dreamy, almost rough looking  texture; which I think allows his art work to flow, for example in The Cow with Sunshade. I think that by using his techniques and materials, I will also be able to achieve a dream like look, in combination with Dali’s hallucinated imagery to create my own surrealist work. I am particularly interested in Chagall’s 1941- 1948 period of work where he was in America; because I find that this move from France allowed him to “find a feeling of youth” which I found made his work flow more. Some of his work that especially interests me includes The Rooster in Love, Blue Concert and Homage to the Past.

My final artist of study is Giorgio de’ Chirico and the main aspect of his work will be his idea of “pittura Metafisica” – to free art from mechanical aspects of cubism. He painted a highly influential group of paintings evoking dream-like architectural visions of Italy. Further developed this style, was known as Metaphysical painting. I like that was that Chirico uses different materials in his work to create tone and depth, for example in one of my favourite piece’s of his, The Uncertainty of the Poet. This is something I want to accomplish in my own work in order to make my pieces not only look surreal and dream like, but to also make them seem real and vivid. Again, some of my favourite pieces are: The Painter’s Family, Two Heads and The Terrible Games. 

Presentation - Giorgio de Chirico

Giorgio de Chirico

Surrealism Art Project

Rachel Grant 

Artist Background

Giorgio de Chirico (July 10, 1888 – November 20, 1978) was a Greek born Italian artist.

In the years before World War I, he founded the scuola metafiscia art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists.

After 1919, he became interested in traditional painting techniques, and worked in a neoclassical or neo-Baroque style, while frequently revisiting the metaphysical themes of his earlier work. 

Why I have chosen to study De Chirico

I chose to study Giorgio de Chirico for my current art project because he painted a highly influential group of paintings evoking dream-like architectural visions of Italy. Further developed this style, was known as Metaphysical painting. . I like that was that Chirico uses different materials in his work to create tone and depth, for example in one of my favourite piece’s of his, The Uncertainty of the Poet. This is something I want to accomplish in my own work in order to make my pieces not only look surreal and dream like, but to also make them seem real and vivid. 

Examples of his work

First piece of response work for Surrealism!