id:			150491
accession number:	1981.51
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1981.51
updated:		2025-04-16 18:15:50.381000

Metaphysical Interior, c. 1917–1939. Attributed to Giorgio de Chirico (Italian, 1888–1978), and Óscar Domínquez (Spanish, 1906–1959). Oil on canvas; framed: 95.6 x 77.5 x 5.2 cm (37 5/8 x 30 1/2 x 2 1/16 in.); unframed: 73.2 x 54 cm (28 13/16 x 21 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1981.51

title:				Metaphysical Interior
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1917–1939
creation date earliest:		1917
creation date latest:		1939
current location:		225 German Expressionism & Surrealism
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Italy, 20th century
technique:	oil on canvas
department:	Modern European Painting and Sculpture
collection:	Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Giorgio de Chirico (Italian, 1888–1978)  - artist

* Óscar Domínquez (Spanish, 1906–1959)  - artist

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measurements: Framed: 95.6 x 77.5 x 5.2 cm (37 5/8 x 30 1/2 x 2 1/16 in.); Unframed: 73.2 x 54 cm (28 13/16 x 21 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	signed lower right:  G. de Chirico, inscribed on verso:  CH--17.
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Year in Review for 1981
	opening date:   1982-02-17T05:00:00
	<i>The Year in Review for 1981</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).

	title:		Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960
	opening date:   1987-09-16T04:00:00
	<i>Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Paul Eluard [1895-1952], Paris
	date: Before 1940-before 1952
	footnotes: 	
			
			* <div><!--block-->In a handwritten statement that was supplied with the painting upon its sale by E.V Thaw to CMA, Bernard Poissonnier said that he acquired the painting from Paul Eluard.&nbsp; Eluard’s daughter, Cécile, confirmed that her father owned the painting “avant la guerre,” meaning prior to May 1940. While Eluard was likely the painting’s first owner, with neither a firm attribution nor date of execution, Eluard’s years of ownership are difficult to establish.&nbsp; It was previously thought that Eluard exhibited the painting at the Musée du Jeu de Paume in 1937.&nbsp; However, there is no evidence that this exhibition ever took place.&nbsp; The error may derive from confusion with a different exhibition at the Jeu de Paume, <em>Origines et Développement de l’art international indépendant, </em>which included a de Chirico painting titled <em>Intérieur métaphysique </em>from the Eluard collection.&nbsp; The catalogue is not illustrated, but installation photographs indicate it was not the Cleveland painting that was exhibited, and that the catalogue must therefore refer to a different work of the same title.&nbsp; Eluard’s ownership of this work also points to its authorship by, if not de Chirico himself, then someone in his circle, possibly Óscar Domínguez or Max Ernst.&nbsp; Cécile Eluard recalled that Ernst enjoyed executing works in the manner of de Chirico, and it was Ernst who painted the earliest known de Chirico forgery.</div>
			
			
	citations: 	


	Bernard Poissonnier, Paris
	date: by 1952
	footnotes: 	
			
			* <div><!--block-->In 1952, the Cleveland picture was exhibited as part of Poissonnier’s collection in the Basel Kunsthalle exhibition, <em>Phantastiche Kunst des XX Jahrhunderts.</em></div>
			
			
	citations: 	


	(E. V. Thaw, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: Until 1981
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
	date: 1984-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Robinson, William H. “De Chirco Forgeries: The Treachery of the Surrealists.” <em>IFAR Journal </em>4, no. 1 (2001): 10-17.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1981.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 69, no. 2 (February 1982): 39–82.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 58; Mentioned: p. 79, no. 34
	url:		http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159758

	Henning, Edward B. “‘Metaphysical Interior’: An Early Painting by Giorgio de Chirico.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 70, no. 4 (April 1983): 138–146.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 138, fig. 1 and Cover
	url:		http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159811

	Henning, Edward B. <em>Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. </em>[Cleveland, Ohio]: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1987.
	page number: 	Reproduced: P. 71, pl. VI; Mentioned and reproduced: P. 126-127, no. 35
	url:		

	Arendsee, M., and M. Steinman-Arendsee. "Take the CAN disability aesthetics tour, at the Cleveland Museum of art." <em>CAN Journal</em> (Winter 2019/20): 76-87.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 86
	url:		

	Guerra Cabrera, José Carlos. <em>Óscar Domínguez: Obra, Contexto y Tragedia.</em> Islas Canarias: José Carlos Guerra Cabrera, 2020.
	page number: 	Mentioned and reproduced: P. 159, fig. 136
	url:		

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IMAGES