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Homesickness of an Engineer

Artist Giorgio de Chirico (Italian, 1888-1978)

Date1916

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions13 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (33.7 x 26 cm)
Overall, Frame: 18 × 15 1/4 × 1 3/4 in. (45.7 × 38.7 × 4.4 cm)
Other (Crate size): 29 × 28 × 13 in. (73.7 × 71.1 × 33 cm)

ClassificationsModern art

Credit LineAnonymous gift

Object number81.148

Terms

Abstract
White
Black
Yellow
Gray
Orange
Green
Blue
Tan
Red
Abstract

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is a small oil on canvas painting. The left side of the canvas is stacked with what appears to be frames, because it shows ninety degree, or smaller, angles made from wood. The right side of the canvas is yellow with black lines to form triangles. The lower portion presents half a circle, part red, part green. In the center of the canvas, in contrast to its more linear features, is a long spherical object - it is a shape known as a traditional biscuit from the city of Ferrara, Italy.

Label TextGiorgio de Chirico Italian, 1888–1978 Homesickness of an Engineer, 1916 Oil on canvas Giorgio de Chirico’s pictures tend to ask more questions than they answer. Here, the self-described metaphysical painter used unexpected combinations of common objects, unusual perspective, and fractured space to create a scene that is at once familiar and strangely disquieting. You may wonder about specifics (for example, what are the various objects in the painting and how do they relate to the engineer in the title?), but the overall effect of the work is a palpable sense of longing. Such unease and uncertainty is not altogether surprising in a painting created during the depths of World War I. Anonymous gift 81.148