Böcklinesque Beginnings (1909-1910)

13 March 2016

Having undergone several years of formal artistic training –first frequenting Athens’ Ethnikò Metsòbion Polytechneìo (1900-1906) followed by Munich’s prestigious Königlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste (1906-1909)– de Chirico’s early Böcklinesque paintings mark his debut as a free-thinking artist, liberated from daily institutional constraints. The work of Swiss symbolist painter  Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901), which de Chirico came into close contact with during his time in Munich, proved seminal in this post-academic phase, an artist whom de Chirico championed for executing works of mythological and fantastical subject matter that convey a disquieting sense of surprise, revelation and déjà vu. Inspired by Böcklin’s choice of subject matter and timeless atmosphere (Stimmung), clear parallels can be found in a number of the artists’ work, including the exhibited Battle with the Centaurs (1909. The metaphysical intensity of the work of German symbolist Max Klinger (1857-1920) also inspired de Chirico’s early phase of 1909-1910.

Highlighting his various periods with examples from his earliest works to last ones, Giorgio de Chirico: The Enigma of the World exhibition took place at the Pera Museum between 24 February - 08 May 2016.

Turquerie

Turquerie

Having penetrated the Balkans in the fourteenth century, conquered Constantinople in the fifteenth, and reached the gates of Vienna in the sixteenth, the Ottoman Empire long struck fear into European hearts. 

An Ottoman Ambassador and a French Bulldog at Covent Garden

An Ottoman Ambassador and a French Bulldog at Covent Garden

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Pera Museum invites artist Benoît Hamet to reinterpret key pieces from its collections, casting a humourous eye over ‘historical’ events, both imagined and factual.

Postcard Nudes

Postcard Nudes

The various states of viewing nudity entered the Ottoman world on postcards before paintings. These postcards appeared in the 1890s, and became widespread in the 1910s, following the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, traveling from hand to hand, city to city.