Venezia

Description

"Giorgio de Chirico achieved international renown as the main exponent of Pittura metafisica and as a harbinger of Surrealism. Works of this kind, which are characterised by starkly divided zones of light and dark, as well as empty space and mysteriousness, are diametrically opposite to the present painting. Already by 1930 de Chirico broke with Pittura metafisica. From this point onwards the painter worked in a Baroque style and with enormous pathos. From the 1950s the Italian returned to Pittura metafisica although he now also produced work of a pathetic nature. The dynamic Baroque brushstroke employed by the artist is evident in the painting, ‘Venice’ of 1966. In this image, which is reminiscent of the works of Canaletto the viewer is presented with one of the famous canals belonging to the City of Lagoons. As if on a bridge, the viewer is able to follow with his eye the course of the canal, flanked to either side with magnificent palazzo. De Chirico enlivened his paintings with figures in gondolas, the gentle movement of the water and the cloudy sky."