The Pharaoh

1917

Friendship with Carlo Carrà: metaphysical painting

In 1917, in the military hospital at Ferrara, de Chirico befriends the painter Carlo Carrà, and together they found the movement of metaphysical painting. Between 1908 and 1917 he creates his most significant works — views of deserted city squares and still lifes.

1918

Moving to Rome

In 1918 de Chirico moves to Rome; from this year his work is exhibited extensively in Europe.

November 1919

The article “The Return of Craftsmanship”

In November 1919 de Chirico publishes in the journal Valori plastici the article “The Return of Craftsmanship,” advocating a return to traditional methods and iconography; it heralds an abrupt change of orientation toward a classicizing manner inspired by Raphael and Signorelli and makes him an outspoken opponent of modern art.

early 1920s

Breton discovers one of his metaphysical paintings

In the early 1920s the Surrealist writer André Breton sees one of de Chirico's metaphysical paintings in Guillaume's Paris gallery and is enthralled; numerous young artists similarly affected by his imagery will form the core of the Paris Surrealist group around Breton. In 1922 Yves Tanguy, seeing a de Chirico in a dealer's window, resolves on the spot to become an artist, although he had never held a brush.