Giorgio de Chirico

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Giorgio de Chirico's idiosyncratic symbolic style had a powerful influence on 20th-century art, and in particular on Surrealism. His strange dreamscapes, featuring classical statues, Italian piazzas, sinister shadows, geometric objects, and mannequins are filled with enigma. This richly illustrated book focuses on the artist's mysterious and fascinating representations of the human form and describes how events and friendships in his life influenced his artistic development. At a young age de Chirico was deeply impressed by Arnold Boecklin's painting of Odysseus on the island of Calypso. De Chiroco appropriated Boecklin's Odysseus for his own paintings, at first with little modification, then pushing it ever further into the background until it appeared only as a shadow. The author explains how the figure underwent numerous additional alterations in later paintings before returning to centerstage as the famous "manichino" figure, the faceless tailor's dummy.