Giorgio de Chirico

Born in Greece to Italian parents and educated in Munich, Giorgio de Chirico absorbed the philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer before arriving in Paris in 1911. There, he forged 'Metaphysical Art' (Pittura Metafisica)—deserted Italian piazzas drenched in melancholic afternoon light, framed by classical arcades, clock towers, empty trains, and eerie faceless mannequins.

De Chirico's uncanny juxtaposition of mundane objects—rubber gloves, artichokes, marble statues—directly inspired the birth of Surrealism, electrifying René Magritte, Max Ernst, and Salvador Dalí. Though he later returned to classical painting, his early metaphysical period remains a foundational cornerstone of 20th-century modernism.