Giorgio de Chirico. Metaphysical insights” is the name of the exhibition that opened on April 20, 2017 in the New Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val. It will last until July 23, 2017 and will give the Russian audience an opportunity to get to know the iconic figure of Russian-Italian relations of the 20th century for the first time since the artist’s lifetime exhibition in 1929. By the way, it was then that the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin bought his "Romans" ...

Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) was an Italian artist who came from an old aristocracy - Sicilian by father and Genoese by mother. He lived most of his young life in Greece, absorbing its antiquity.

The environment of Orthodox Greek culture, probably, also made itself felt, and became the first link between the painter and Russia. In addition, he was twice married to women originating from Russia, and was friendly and collaborated with S. Diaghilev.

The idea to show Giorgio de Chirico's exhibition in Moscow as important for Russian-Italian relations was highly appreciated by V.V. Putin and S. Mattarella, Presidents of both countries. Its implementation fell on the shoulders of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation, and was supported by 5 museums and private collections in Europe. A total of 100 works are presented, including theatrical costumes, sketches, figurines and paintings.

The result of the effort was something special and large-scale. As the organizers of the exhibition unanimously noted, J. De Chirico was one of the great artists of the 20th century along with P. Picasso. According to the Italian curator of the project G. Mercurio: "De Chirico was convinced that art is a cycle where everything returns and art itself gives birth to art."

Almost all known images ancient art, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance are in front of the eyes of the viewer, but all this is done in a special, unlike anything the author's manner. Although the exhibition contains 3 sections, marking the path of de Chirico to the metaphysical development of the world through neoclassicism, renaissance and Nietzscheanism, but antiquity never leaves his canvases, leaving a symbolic mark in all his works.

To the question of whether de Chirico is a national artist or a supranational one, O. Strada replied: “Of course, he is Italian pride, therefore he is an Italian artist. At the same time, it is supranational. Moreover, we already live within the borders of Europe, a broader concept of the country. And in those days, let's not forget, artists traveled to cultural capitals. In the 1920s, Paris was like that, then London, then Rome and Milan… Because all artists always try to absorb what is new.

As for de Chirico, he lived in Greece for many years, his father was an engineer and he worked there. Therefore, of course, all Greek culture, the Greek tradition is part of de Chirico's aesthetic landscape. He also studied in Berlin, where modernism was in vogue in those years. But de Chirico did not like fashionable art because he thought it was superficial. He was very fond of A. Böcklin, and for some time tried to extract the essence of his art. Another very important thing for de Chirico was the knowledge of the philosophers of that time. He read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer all his life, and Nietzsche's philosophical thoughts are often reflected in his paintings. For example, the theme of the eternal return.

Exhibition “Giorgio de Chirico. Metaphorical Insights” opens with the festival “Cherry Forest”, organized by the well-known company Bosco di Ciliegi, its founder M.E. Kusnirovich. De Chirico entered his life, in the Italian office, in 1995 in the form of two copies of his paintings - there he was imprinted in his memory and remained in it. E-Vesti took the opportunity to ask Mikhail Ernestovich how important de Chirico is for us and for our culture today: “I think he is very important. De Chirico "unwound" himself deep and high, and offered the viewer to do it. There is a lot to think about: images, a combination of planes, volumes, colors ... For a discerning viewer, this is what you need. These are not wonderful "bears in the forest", not only that.

All the artists of the beginning of the 20th century were in an excited state, they felt their missionary work and anticipated the development of such a huge number of trends. Someone was the forerunner of surrealism, someone was engaged in futurism, someone was an avant-garde solution ... They faced universal, worldview problems, and that's why, it seems to me that in 100 years and beyond - this remains modernity ”...

IN Tretyakov Gallery opened the first Russian exhibition Giorgio de Chirico - one of the main Italian surrealists, known for his metaphysical painting. Buro 24/7 tells you what you need to know about an artist before visiting an exhibition.

Metaphysics and early work

Rod de Chirico comes from Greece. After the death of his father, the future artist moved with his family to Munich, where he continued his studies at the Academy fine arts. In the Munich years, he is influenced by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer and Otto Weininger. Their ideas form his worldview, which he himself will call "metaphysics" - one of the main sections of philosophy, which considers questions of original being. Metaphysical painting will receive its name not earlier than 1917, when de Chirico meets the artist Carlo Carra, whose search for a formal language was in many ways close to the master.

Self-portrait in a black sweater. Giorgio de Chirico. 1957

Nevertheless, all the works of de Chirico of the 1910s can be attributed to “metaphysics” - desert landscapes, where lonely characters appear against the backdrop of urban architecture with expressive shadows, or still lifes with classical busts, fruits and balls. As follows from the memoirs of the artist himself, the first metaphysical insight arose from him in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. “It suddenly seemed to me that I was seeing everything around for the first time,” he later wrote in his memoirs. This episode formed the basis of the first metaphysical picture - "The Riddle of the Autumn Noon" (1910).

Another important influence in de Chirico's work is the work of the German Symbolists, Max Klinger and Arnold Böcklin, with whom de Chirico himself is initially compared. The pictorial and philosophical influences of this time would only emerge a few years later, during the artist's stay in Paris. Following Munich, de Chirico moved to Milan and Florence, and after the war, he finally reached Paris, where in the 1910s the career of de Chirico and other masters of the era took place - Pablo Picasso, Amadeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, Constantin Brancusi and many others. Although the work of de Chirico is not directly related to them, Paris, as an artistic environment, played an important role in his formation.

"Melancholy and the Mystery of the Street". Giorgio de Chirico. 1914

Another artist who influenced the formation of metaphysical painting was de Chirico's younger brother, Alberto Savinio. Together with him, de Chirico published the journal Plastic Values, and also published a number of theoretical works that defined the fundamental principles of metaphysical painting. Among them are transparency and irony, which later became main characteristic poetic and dreamy paintings of metaphysicians.

The first part of the exposition is devoted to the period of the 1910s and metaphysics as de Chirico's main method. The works of the 1920s and 30s, in which the artist rethinks antiquity and the Old Masters, are a logical continuation of the first stage. Between them, the viewer enters the world of Diaghilev's ballets, in the creation of costumes for which de Chirico was directly involved.

Costumes for the Diaghilev ballets and a return to eternal themes

If at the beginning of the journey costumes and scenery for Diaghilev were created mainly by members of the World of Art group - Lev Bakst, Valentin Serov and Alexander Benois, then Andre Derain and Pablo Picasso are working on it in Paris. The latter also created the scenography for the ballet Pulcinella in 1920. In 1931, after the death of Diaghilev, this production returned to the stage with decorations by de Chirico. In addition, the artist was engaged in costumes for latest project Diaghilev's "Ball" (1929), as well as for "Proteus", staged by the troupe of the Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo at the Covent Garden Theatre.

"Song of Love". Giorgio de Chirico. 1914

The turn of the 1920s and 30s in the work of de Chirico is marked not only by work in the theater, but also by an interest in historical and mythical subjects. In the same years, he began to work on the aforementioned magazine Plastic Values, which revived the ideals of classical painting on its pages. Historical scenes such as the Trojan War and the Battle of Thermopylae appear on de Chirico's canvases, while fragments of aqueducts, columns and temples form a single figure of the "Archaeologists". These motifs serve as references to the profession of his wife, Raisa Gurevich-Krat. In those same years, de Chirico often turned to the art of the Old Masters: among his canvases it is easy to recognize the prototypes of Watteau, Titian, Boucher, Fragonard, Canaletto and Rubens.

Separate sections of the exhibition are presented by the sculpture and graphics of the artist - terracotta figures in bronze and sketches of the same mannequins, as well as preparatory sketches for paintings. The cycle of one hundred works presented at the exhibition ends with the concept of "Neometaphysics" - this is how the late period of creativity from 1968 to 1976 is called. At this time, the artist created copies of existing works, reworking them in a new style, much more complex. A vivid example of this is the “Internal Metaphysics of the Workshop”, where the artist’s seemingly familiar canvases are depicted inside a new painting.

« The inner metaphysics of the workshop». Giorgio de Chirico. 1969

Most significantly, de Chirico influenced the painting of the Surrealists, whose association arose ten years after the appearance of metaphysical artists. Without the work of de Chirico, it is difficult to imagine the work of Salvador Dali or Rene Magritte, and Andre Breton himself was so fascinated by the painting “The Brain of a Child” that he got off the bus when he saw it in the window.

Although only his works for Diaghilev's ballets are linked to Russia, de Chirico's curator Tatyana Goryacheva draws parallels between the Italian artist and the Suprematist Malevich, and the dreamy Deineka, and the cubists Shevchenko and Rozhdestvensky. The best way to understand this is to see it with your own eyes.

How to get to the museum

• Metro
• By car

From the Oktyabrskaya metro station: exit the metro onto Krymsky Val Street and follow the bridge. Opposite the main entrance to Gorky Park, cross the road.

From the Park Kultury metro station: exit the metro onto Krymsky Val Street and follow the bridge. Opposite the main entrance to Gorky Park, cross the road.

Follow from Kaluga Square along the inner side of the Garden Ring.

Days of free visits at the museum

Every Wednesday entrance to permanent exhibition"The Art of the 20th Century" and temporary exhibitions in (Krymsky Val, 10) are free for visitors without a guided tour (except for exhibitions and the project "Avant-garde in three dimensions: Goncharova and Malevich").

Right free admission expositions in the main building in Lavrushinsky Lane, the Engineering Building, the New Tretyakov Gallery, the house-museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov is provided on the following days for certain categories of citizens in general order:

First and second Sunday of every month:

for students of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation, regardless of the form of education (including foreign citizens-students of Russian universities, graduate students, adjuncts, residents, assistant trainees) upon presentation of a student ID card (does not apply to persons presenting student trainee ID cards) );

for students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (from 18 years old) (citizens of Russia and CIS countries). On the first and second Sundays of each month, students holding ISIC cards have the right to visit the exhibition “Art of the 20th Century” at the New Tretyakov Gallery free of charge.

every Saturday - for members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Please note that conditions for free access to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for details.

Attention! At the ticket office of the Gallery, entrance tickets are provided with a face value of "free of charge" (upon presentation of the relevant documents - for the above-mentioned visitors). At the same time, all services of the Gallery, including excursion services, are paid in accordance with the established procedure.

Museum visit in holidays

Dear visitors!

Please pay attention to the opening hours of the Tretyakov Gallery on holidays. The visit is paid.

Please note that entry with electronic tickets is carried out on a first-come, first-served basis. With return policy electronic tickets you can check on .

Congratulations on the upcoming holiday and we are waiting in the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery!

Right of preferential visit The Gallery, except as provided for by a separate order of the Gallery's management, is provided upon presentation of documents confirming the right to preferential visits:

• pensioners (citizens of Russia and CIS countries),
• full cavaliers of the Order of Glory,
• students of secondary and secondary special educational institutions (from 18 years old),
• students of higher educational institutions of Russia, as well as foreign students studying in Russian universities (except for student trainees),
• members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Visitors to the above categories of citizens acquire concession ticket in general order.

Right of free admission The main and temporary expositions of the Gallery, except for cases provided for by a separate order of the Gallery's management, are provided for the following categories of citizens upon presentation of documents confirming the right to free admission:

• persons under the age of 18;
• students of faculties specializing in the field of fine arts of secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of Russia, regardless of the form of education (as well as foreign students studying in Russian universities). The clause does not apply to persons presenting student cards of "trainee students" (in the absence of information about the faculty in the student card, certificate is provided from educational institution with the obligatory indication of the faculty);
• veterans and invalids of the Great Patriotic War, participants in hostilities, former underage prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos and other places of detention created by the Nazis and their allies during World War II, illegally repressed and rehabilitated citizens (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• conscripts Russian Federation;
• Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, Full Cavaliers of the "Order of Glory" (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• disabled people of groups I and II, participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled person of group I (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled child (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• artists, architects, designers - members of the relevant creative Unions of Russia and its subjects, art historians - members of the Association of Art Critics of Russia and its subjects, members and employees Russian Academy arts;
• members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM);
• employees of museums of the system of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the relevant Departments of Culture, employees of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and ministries of culture of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• museum volunteers - entrance to the exposition "Art of the XX century" (Krymsky Val, 10) and to the Museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov (citizens of Russia);
• guide-interpreters who have an accreditation card of the Association of Guide-Translators and Tour Managers of Russia, including those accompanying a group of foreign tourists;
• one teacher of an educational institution and one accompanying a group of students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (if there is an excursion voucher, subscription); one teacher of an educational institution with state accreditation educational activities in an agreed training session and having a special badge (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying a group of students or a group of military servicemen (if there is an excursion voucher, subscription and during a training session) (citizens of Russia).

Visitors to the above categories of citizens receive entrance ticket denomination "Free".

Please note that conditions for preferential admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for details.

How to get to the museum

• Metro
• By car

From the Oktyabrskaya metro station: exit the metro onto Krymsky Val Street and follow the bridge. Opposite the main entrance to Gorky Park, cross the road.

From the Park Kultury metro station: exit the metro onto Krymsky Val Street and follow the bridge. Opposite the main entrance to Gorky Park, cross the road.

Follow from Kaluga Square along the inner side of the Garden Ring.

Days of free visits at the museum

Every Wednesday, admission to the permanent exhibition "The Art of the 20th Century" and temporary exhibitions in (Krymsky Val, 10) is free for visitors without a guided tour (except for exhibitions and the project "Avant-garde in three dimensions: Goncharova and Malevich").

The right to free access to expositions in the main building in Lavrushinsky Lane, the Engineering Building, the New Tretyakov Gallery, the house-museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov is provided on the following days for certain categories of citizens in general order:

First and second Sunday of every month:

for students of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation, regardless of the form of education (including foreign citizens-students of Russian universities, graduate students, adjuncts, residents, assistant trainees) upon presentation of a student ID card (does not apply to persons presenting student trainee ID cards) );

for students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (from 18 years old) (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries). On the first and second Sundays of each month, students holding ISIC cards have the right to visit the exhibition “Art of the 20th Century” at the New Tretyakov Gallery free of charge.

every Saturday - for members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Please note that conditions for free access to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for details.

Attention! At the ticket office of the Gallery, entrance tickets are provided with a face value of "free of charge" (upon presentation of the relevant documents - for the above-mentioned visitors). At the same time, all services of the Gallery, including excursion services, are paid in accordance with the established procedure.

Visiting the museum on public holidays

Dear visitors!

Please pay attention to the opening hours of the Tretyakov Gallery on holidays. The visit is paid.

Please note that entry with electronic tickets is carried out on a first-come, first-served basis. You can familiarize yourself with the rules for the return of electronic tickets at.

Congratulations on the upcoming holiday and we are waiting in the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery!

Right of preferential visit The Gallery, except as provided for by a separate order of the Gallery's management, is provided upon presentation of documents confirming the right to preferential visits:

• pensioners (citizens of Russia and CIS countries),
• full cavaliers of the Order of Glory,
• students of secondary and secondary special educational institutions (from 18 years old),
• students of higher educational institutions of Russia, as well as foreign students studying in Russian universities (except for student trainees),
• members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Visitors of the above categories of citizens purchase a reduced ticket in general order.

Right of free admission The main and temporary expositions of the Gallery, except for cases provided for by a separate order of the Gallery's management, are provided for the following categories of citizens upon presentation of documents confirming the right to free admission:

• persons under the age of 18;
• students of faculties specializing in the field of fine arts of secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of Russia, regardless of the form of education (as well as foreign students studying in Russian universities). The clause does not apply to persons presenting student cards of "trainee students" (in the absence of information about the faculty in the student card, a certificate from the educational institution with the obligatory indication of the faculty is presented);
• veterans and invalids of the Great Patriotic War, combatants, former underage prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos and other places of detention created by the Nazis and their allies during the Second World War, illegally repressed and rehabilitated citizens (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• military servicemen of the Russian Federation;
• Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, Full Cavaliers of the "Order of Glory" (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• disabled people of groups I and II, participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled person of group I (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled child (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• artists, architects, designers - members of the relevant creative Unions of Russia and its subjects, art historians - members of the Association of Art Critics of Russia and its subjects, members and employees of the Russian Academy of Arts;
• members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM);
• employees of museums of the system of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the relevant Departments of Culture, employees of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and ministries of culture of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• museum volunteers - entrance to the exposition "Art of the XX century" (Krymsky Val, 10) and to the Museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov (citizens of Russia);
• guide-interpreters who have an accreditation card of the Association of Guide-Translators and Tour Managers of Russia, including those accompanying a group of foreign tourists;
• one teacher of an educational institution and one accompanying a group of students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (if there is an excursion voucher, subscription); one teacher of an educational institution that has state accreditation of educational activities when conducting an agreed training session and has a special badge (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• one accompanying a group of students or a group of military servicemen (if there is an excursion voucher, subscription and during a training session) (citizens of Russia).

Visitors of the above categories of citizens receive an entrance ticket with a face value of "Free".

Please note that conditions for preferential admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for details.

Giorgio de Chirico. Orpheus is a tired troubadour. 1970

On April 20, 2017, the Tretyakov Gallery will open Russia's first large-scale exhibition of works by the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico (1888−1978), the inventor of "metaphysical painting". The exhibition will feature paintings, drawings, sculptures, as well as theatrical costumes made by the artist for Sergei Diaghilev's entreprise for the ballet production of Ball (1929).

To the attention of the audience - more than 100 works of the artist

Giorgio de Chirico. Light and shadow

Exhibition “Giorgio de Chirico. Metaphysical insights” is a joint project of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation (Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico). Works for the exhibition provided National Gallery new and contemporary art(Rome), Museum of New and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Georges Pompidou Center (Paris), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkin and private collection from Switzerland.

The exposition will open annual festival arts "Cherry Forest", which has been held annually in Russia by Bosco di Ciliegi since 2001.

Giorgio de Chirico. Master

Giorgio de Chirico was born in the Greek city of Volos to Italian parents. He studied drawing and painting, first in Athens and then in Florence. Later, during his studies at the Academy fine arts in Munich between 1906 and 1909, de Chirico was influenced by philosophers such as Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and Otto Weininger, as well as artists Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger. The first works, which are called "metaphysical", the artist created in 1910 in Florence, where he moved with his mother and brother.

Giorgio de Chirico. Melancholy and the mystery of the street

The master was also fascinated by the “square city” of Turin, the city of Nietzsche, who wrote “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” here in 1888. In 1911, having arrived in Paris, the artist became close to Picasso, Derain and Apollinaire, got acquainted with the work of Braque and Léger. The formal countdown of the school of “metaphysical painting” has been going on since 1917: passing military service in the rear, in Ferrara, de Chirico became friends with the artist Carlo Carra, with whom he developed new ideas, already having his own baggage of plots, painting style and techniques by that time.

Giorgio de Chirico. Poet's Doubt. 1913

Theoretical works and paintings early period the artist subsequently became a powerful source of inspiration for the surrealists. The exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery will reveal all the facets of de Chirico's work: classical "metaphysical" and post-metaphysical painting, the artist's appeal in the 1920s and 1930s to the interpretation of antiquity and mythological subjects, his interest in the painting of old masters.

Giorgio de Chirico. Two figures

The audience will see numerous self-portraits of de Chirico, as well as quite early paintings, testifying to his passion for the art of the Swiss symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin (1827−1901). Most of the work is provided by the Fondazione de Chirico (Rome, Italy), founded in 1986. According to the will of the artist's widow, the Foundation received a large corpus of his later works.

Giorgio de Chirico. Return of Ulysses. 1968

The artist lived for a long time - 90 years, and complained that, having lived so long and being a contemporary of Dali, he was not called a genius of surrealism.

“If I had died at 31, like Seurat, or at 39, like Apollinaire, I would today be considered one of the main painters of the century. You know what those stupid critics would say?! That the greatest surrealist artist is not Dali, not Magritte, not Delvaux, but me, Chirico!”

Giorgio de Chirico. yellow book

Giorgio de Chirico is one of the most unusual masters of the 20th century, whose work is characterized by a successive change of avant-garde movements. And, unlike many contemporaries, who consistently reveal their ideas and hobbies over time, he created a unique metaphysical universe where he worked on many ideas.

Giorgio de Chirico. "Metaphysical Interior with a Statue in Profile". 1962

As conceived by the curators, the works included in the exhibition "Metaphysical Insights" will provide the public with the opportunity to comprehend the influence of Giorgio de Chirico not only on European artists, but also on Russians - first of all, on Kazimir Malevich. The latter not only transformed in his later works some of the techniques and motifs of painting Italian artist, but also strongly recommended the study of his work to his students.

Metaphysical interior with the head of Mercury. Giorgio de Chirico. 1969

De Chirico was different from other great artists of his time. His style was both universal and bright, and the main themes of his works were memories, dreams and mysteries of the world. This style-forming gifted painter had a huge influence on such masters as Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali (by the way, the exhibition of Dali's works in St. Petersburg opens in April 2017).

Poet and artist. Giorgio de Chirico. 1975

“In order for a work of art to be immortal, it is necessary that it goes beyond the human, where there is no common sense and logic. Thus it approaches sleep and childish reverie.

Giorgio de Chirico

Giorgio de Chirico. Riders in the forest

For the first time four works of de Chirico were exhibited in Moscow in 1929, in the 1930s
his drawings and etchings. Art historians believe that the influence of the works of the Italian forerunner of surrealism can be traced in the work of such Russian masters as Alexander Shevchenko, Alexander Deineka, Vera Ermolaeva.

Giorgio de Chirico. Sadness in the eyes

This topic is covered in detail in a unique publication prepared for the exhibition.
with the participation of the curator Tatyana Goryacheva, which also included articles from Italian
researchers creative way Giorgio de Chirico.

Giorgio de Chirico. Young man and white horse

Exhibition “Giorgio de Chirico. Metaphysical insights" in the State Tretyakov
gallery will be open from April 20 to July 23, 2017