Via Appia Antica c. 1945 - 1950

This is Giorgio De Chirico’s, Via Appia Antica, painted with oil on canvas. The colors are muted, earthy – a harmony of browns, greens, and faded blues, evoking a sense of timelessness and melancholy. I’m struck by the texture of the paint. It’s thick in places, almost sculptural, especially in the foliage of the trees and the crumbling ruins. There’s this tower-like form to the right, and the way he’s dabbed the paint, it’s like each touch is a tiny fragment of history, a piece of the past clinging to the present. Look at how the figure is placed, small and solitary, walking away from us, further emphasizes the distance between then and now. De Chirico had a later period where his paintings were based on the old masters. But here in his earlier work, you can see the artist finding his own way. It’s art as a journey, not a destination, a kind of echo of the figure in the painting itself.