Italian Surrealist: Giorgio de Chirico

When the surrealist movement began in the early 1920’s, the main focus was to bring the dream world into the real world; to make the illogical and strange thoughts of our subconscious not so hidden in society. Though the movement begun in Paris, the Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico was the main influence of the surrealist development. De Chirico was Italian but he was born and taught in Greece in his early years and worked most of his artist life in Florence, Milan, Germany, Paris, and Rome. One of de Chirico’s main themes in his paintings was placing odd and curious symbols juxtaposed next to each other and this then led the surrealist group stylistically. However, the difference between many of Chirico’s paintings and other surrealist works, is that most of the surrealist artists focused on the dreamworld and awakening the subconscious, whereas a lot of the paintings by de Chirico incorporated classical influences from the past, or symbols pertaining to Greek mythology (stemming from his birthplace). For example, in de Chirico’s “The Soothsayer’s Recompense,” he used exaggerated color and perspective to show a “sleeping Ariadne, who according to Greek mythology was abandoned by her lover on the desert island of Naxos” in the middle of a deserted Italian piazza (Philadelphia Museum of Art). Though the subjects themselves in this painting are a little more realistic than lets say, Dali’s meting clocks in “The Persistence of Memory,” they are nonetheless unrealistic in their conflicting moods and background, and use of color and sharpness. This painting in particular is a little less “photo-realistic” than the other surrealist paintings as well, for the sharp shadows and paint strokes that are seen within the darker areas of the painting are much more harsh and unrealistic (there are even black outlines around where the shadows end). Further, the perspective seems to be much more flat. Though we can see that the train, building, and brick wall are in the background, it is not as much because of the perspective drawing aspect, but more because of his use of simple scaling. Though the style and subject matter may be not as close to surrealist work as some of his other paintings, The Soothsayer’s Recompense most definitely carries the curious quality that surrealism entails. The foreground is quiet, empty, and obvious, whereas behind the brick wall, the world looks new (for that time), and the use of steam and transportation contrasts drastically with the greek sculpture in the foreground. If it were not for the background of this image (and the coloring and style of course), this work could have easily passed as a landscape painting based on greek times. The train, palm trees, clock, and even the little flags, lend a more juxtaposed and interesting perspective on the subject. Giorgio de Chirico no doubt influenced the surrealist painters and movement dramatically, but his ideology stemmed from something a little less tapped into the dream/sub-concoious world, and was more concerned with classical background and symbols.

Sources: http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/51288.html

Minimalism inspired by Italian artist : Giorgio Morandi

Although Giorgio Mordani himself may have not been involved in the Minimalist movement of the 1960s and 70s, he most definitely inspired it. Post World War II, the Abstract Expressionist artists took over America with their unconstrained, involuntary works representing the individual artists’ physical expression. The reaction to this movement which then took over the minds and forms of American artists in mostly the sixties and seventies, was a movement called Minimalism. This movement was much more about the physical space, breaking things down into their most simplistic nature, and giving the audience or viewers credit in experiencing the work, instead of the artist. Though Giorgio Mordani, a famous artist in the Italian art world was known for mostly his work which fell into the futurism, cubism, and then metaphysical painting movements, he was also most famous for his still life paintings. The vases and bowls which he painted most often slowly changed into looking less and less like objects on a table and eventually represented the overall shape which presented a space and possible mood, but not much more in its content, deeper meaning, or expression. Minimalism, which focused on the materials of the works and was constantly trying to move away from using metaphors in the pieces what so ever, was influenced by Mordani’s use of shape and powerful form instead of the unorganized and expressive abstract expressionism at the time. Mordani striped away the inessential, leaving a different and less complicated aspect to everyday life. Though his still life objects were real objects we may see on a table at our home (a vase, bowl, glass, etc.) they are so simple and minimal that they leave room for the viewer to see what they want in the negative space, in the form, and in the overall essence, instead of blinding and overwhelming us with feeling and splatters. The most famous minimalist artists in America, such as Tony Smith, Donald Judd, and even Sol LeWitt, definitely approached their minimalist work in a completely different manner than the Italian Giorgio Mordani set the tone for. However, their sculptures and use of space and material exhibit many of the same key ideas that Mordani featured in his still life paintings, and were no doubt influenced by his minimalist conception. The most obvious impact that Mordani had on minimalist artists was his desire to breakdown the traditional meaning behind sculpture and paintings and instead to erase that distinction. Though the still life works created by Mordani, were paintings and not sculptures, they exhibited the same amount of indistinction between the two as some of the most famous works of minimalist sculpture in america did. This sense of time and space is exhibited in the most simple and raw-like form, line, and color (or lack thereof). Giorgio Mordani not only set up minimalist artists for an entire movement based on simplicity and the ability to let the viewer notice physical space, but he created beautiful forms in painting that created a bridge between two mediums and cultures.

Giorgio Morandi, Still Life, 1931, Oil on Canvas, 54×64 cm @2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome. Reproduction, including downloading of Giorgio Morandi works, is prohibited by copyright laws and international conventions without the express written permission of Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

 

Sources:

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-artists/giorgio-morandi.htm

http://www.italianmodernart.org/exhibition-program/future-exhibitions/

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-minimalism.htm