Giorgio de Chirico

Demotte Galleries, New York (acquired by 1930)
Samuel M. Kootz, New York
Sidney Janis, New York
Martin Janis, Encino (by descent from the above)
Sale: Finarte, Rome, April 10, 1990, lot 298
Private Collection, Italy
Sale: Christie's, New York, May 4, 2005, lot 61
Acquired at the above sale

New York, Demotte Gallery, Paintings by Giorgio de Chirico, 1930, no. 5 or 6
Verona, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Palazzo Forti & Milan, Palazzo Reale, de Chirico gli anni Venti, 1986-87, n.n., illustrated in color in the catalogue
Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny-Musée Maillol, Le Feu sous les Cendres, de Picasso à Basquiat, 2005-06, illustrated in color in the catalogue
Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Giorgio de Chirico: Werke 1909 - 1971 aus Schweizer Sammlungen, 2008, no. 30, illustrated in color in the catalogue (dated 1927)
Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, De Chirico, Max Ernst, Magritte, Balthus. A Look into the Invisible, 2010, no. 85, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco & Paolo Baldacci, Giorgio de Chirico, Paris, 1924-1929, Milan, 1982, no. 177, illustrated p. 530

The work is in very good condition. The canvas is unlined. Minor frame abrasion on the extreme edges of the canvas. Under UV light: a half-inch vertical stroke of inpainting is visible to the fence, second rung from the left.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Painted during de Chirico’s stay in Paris from 1925 until 1932, the present work is part of the artist’s Mobili nella valle (Furniture in the Valley) series. A chance encounter there inspired this series of eight paintings, each of which juxtapose everyday mundane objects within a barren landscape, populated by mysterious allusions to antiquity. As de Chirico describes the event, “the series of my paintings 'Furniture in Landscape' came out of an idea I got in one afternoon in Paris… I saw there on the sidewalk, in front… of a second-hand furniture dealer, some armchairs, wardrobes, tables, and a clothes-stand abandoned on the street. These things, just the sight of which arouses in us sensations and feelings that are rooted back in our more distant childhood, found so far from the sacred place where man has always loved to retreat for rest and which we call our home, took on a solemn, tragic, and even mysterious aspect” (quoted in Paolo Baldacci, Betraying the Muse, de Chirico and the Surrealists, New York, 1994, p. 142). Indeed, this concept of presenting everyday objects out of their habitual context would prove to be crucial in the development of Surrealism.

The enigmatic scenes of the series also relate back to an event in de Chirico’s childhood in Greece. At a time when there were threats of an earthquake, the young de Chirico and his family would sleep in an open piazza surrounded by pieces of furniture from their home. Thus the illustration of classical sculpture and architecture, represented by a colonnade in the distance in the present work, further links these works to the artist’s personal history, representing yet another important and recurring theme from de Chirico’s oeuvre.