Giorgio de Chirico

Organised on occasion of the centenary of the publication of Breton's Manifeste du Surréalisme (15 October 1924), this richly-illustrated volume features circa 75 artworks located in prestigious museums, institutions and private collections with over 50 paintings and drawings by de Chirico dated 1921-1928 and more than 20 photographic portraits of key Surrealist artists, writers, poets and theorists by Man Ray and Lee Miller.

The volume seeks to shine a light on the pivotal role that de Chirico played in the birth and early development of Surrealism with his work of the 1910s shaping the trajectory of numerous Surrealist artists such as René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst and Kay Sage. It also includes an in-depth critical reassessment of de Chirico's complicated yet fascinating rapport with the Surrealist leader André Breton, together with French poet Paul Éluard and his wife Gala (who later married Dalí) via numerous letters and postcards (1921-1925) that are reproduced in their entirety for the first time, together with poems by the artist, rare exhibition catalogues and publications.