Mister Dudron looked at his watch. It was five p.m. In an hour he thought, or little more, the gates of the Acropolis will close. I need to go now and, just before closing, try and hide myself behind a column or on the ground between the ruins and wait for the closing of the gates, in order to remain alone all night on that sacred hill under the infinite vault of stars…

Giorgio de Chirico, excerpt from Il Signor Dudron (a novel in preparation with the same title).

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I was born in Volo (Greece) in 1888 of Italian parents. During my childhood I dedicated myself to drawing and painting; I did not do regular studies of any kind or attend an academy, except for the academy of Munich, which I went to for a year when I was about 18. In Italy and France, I always worked alone. I worked in Paris from 1911 to 1915. During that time, I exhibited at the Salon d’Automne and at the “Indépendants”. I became friends with Guillaume Apollinaire. I returned to Italy in 1915…

Giorgio de Chirico, Autobiography c. 1926

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I have not had any news since my letter to you in which I spoke of the Surrealists’ persecution and put you on guard against their action towards me. I am told that Dalí has taken advantage of his stay in New York to speak badly of my painting to journalists. Is this true? To tell you the truth, it only affects me to a certain extent…

Giorgio de Chirico
Letter to Julien Levy, Paris 18 January 1935

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The unpublished theatre piece Le Ballet – Commedie en quatres actes (dating to 1965 based on earlier version from mid-1940s) was published in the original French version in “Metaphysical Art” n. 3/4.

At left: Giorgio de Chirico, Icarus and the Minotaur (sketch for per The Minotaur), 1937

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