Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978)

Lot 17
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Estimation :
80000 - 100000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 104 000EUR
Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978)
Self-Portrait with the Head of Mercury, 1923 Graphite drawing on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right. Signed, dated and titled on the back. Certified on the back by the notary Diego Gandolfo in Rome, 23 November 1962. Graphie drawing on board. Signed and dated lower right. Signed, dated and titled on the reverse. Authentified on the reverse by the Notary Diego Gandolfo, November 23rd 1962. H_34,5 cm W_27 cm Provenance: - former Diego Gandolfo collection, Rome - private collection Bibliography: - Catalogo Generale, Giorgio de Chirico volumo primo, Opere dal 1908 al 1930, the oil on canvas "Autoritratto con testa di Mercurio", listed as no. 59. - Portrait of the artist with bust of Mercury, the oil on canvas is reproduced in the exhibition catalogue of the Leonce Rosenberg Gallery, Paris in 1925. - Autoritratto con testa di Mercurio, the oil on canvas is reproduced in the exhibition catalogue of the Pesaro Gallery, Milan in 1926. We thank the de Chirico Foundation for confirming that this work was authenticated on November 1, 2003. Giorgio de Chirico Self-portrait with the head of Mercury The work we are fortunate enough to offer in the sale corresponds to the preparatory drawing for the painting done in 1924. The painting was exhibited in 1925 at the Leonce Rosenberg Gallery in Paris and it is more than likely that the drawing was also included. In this self-portrait, the master of the metaphysical movement places existence alongside myth or mythology. In a theatrical setting, of sublime workmanship, playing on the rhythm of three hands, the self-portrait stands in the foreground, taking us to witness what is at stake in the conflict or alliance between reality and mythology. These three hands, which seem to come from the same person, translate the continuity of thought in the creative execution. The head of Mercury in the background is blurred, a ghostly presence from beyond; does the artist see himself rising up alongside Mercury or is Mercury descending? Mercury or has Mercury descended to greet the work of the master? Mercury's Dream Giorgio de Chirico and Alberto Savinio were born in Greece and identified with the Dioscuri Castor and Pollux. They were deeply affected by the death of their sister Adelaide and their father. The statue of Praxiteles representing Hermes-Mercury appeared to them as a spectre. De Chirico will represent his brother (and thus himself) as Hamlet, the one who has seen the ghost of his father. "The appearance of Mercury is ineluctably linked to the death of the father. Mercury becomes for them "The Awakener" revealed to his humanity by love and a potential martyr: art and artist confounded. He is the mediator of dreams and initiator of the invisible. The work of the two brothers will be done in the shadow and light of this "mediator", between life and death, between eros and the psyche. Marie-José Tramuta "In recent times, the mysterious meaning of dreams has again imposed itself on his mind: in a neutral light, in an atmosphere of mist where the last shots fade, the ghosts of distant times return to him. But, from his earliest paintings to his most recent ones, we find, everywhere and always, in the work of Giorgio de Chirico, the same ability to reveal the most new and surprising aspects in that limpid and noble tone which raises them to the power of myth" Léonce Rosenberg
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