“They say that Rome is the centre of the world and the Piazza di Spagna is the centre of Rome. Therefore my wife and I would live in the centre of the centre of the world, which would be the pinnacle of centrality and the pinnacle of anti-eccentricity”, declared Giorgio de Chirico, explaining why he chose to settle there in a spacious fourth-floor apartment, where he lived and worked for the last thirty years of his life. It’s now run as a museum by the Giorgio and Isa de Chirico Foundation.
The entrance at No. 31 is inconspicuous and the portiere may try to persuade you, as he did us, that it is absolutely impossible to visit the apartment under any circumstances. Then someone else, whose status is unclear, may come into the lobby and agree that it’s impossible to visit, then a third person may come and say that the portiere is crazy and lead you to the fourth floor, where you will be given a friendly welcome.
By the time de Chirico settled in Rome with his wife Isa in the 1940s, having previously lived in Paris and New York, his artistic reputation was in decline. He was respected for his pittura metfisica from around the time of the First World War and was regarded as an important precursor of Surrealism, recognised as such the Surrealists themselves, but after 1918 he became critical of modern art and worked in a style inspired by classical models, drawing on Rubens, Titian, Raphael and Delacroix. Although he was interested in their methods he remained preoccupied with myth and the expression of supersensible reality. His relations with the Surrealists, friendly at first, became strained and ended in rancour. Thus an artist who worked well into his eighties is known only for a tenth of his work.
The large rooms of the apartment, set out in a light, airy open plan, are designed for parties. What would have been more fun than a soirée overlooking the Piazza di Spagna hosted by an important artist? Actually, no: de Chirico didn’t like parties and preferred a small circle of friends. Isa (below) was more outgoing and did host parties.
He thought his metaphysical paintings were important and in his old age he returned to them (below, painted in 1974) also making bronze and gilt models of figures he had drawn fifty years ago. This was partly a business decision, encouraged by Isa, in whom the introverted de Chirico found an energetic publicist and manager.
MARSHALL COLMAN 