Conversation among the Ruins
1927
Painter, Italian, 1888 - 1978

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 130.5 x 97.2 cm (51 3/8 x 38 1/4 in.)
framed: 152.4 x 117.8 x 7.6 cm (60 x 46 3/8 x 3 in.) -
Accession
1963.10.107
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Purchased from the artist by Léonce Rosenberg [1879-1947], Paris;[1] sold possibly May 1928 to (Valentine Dudensing, New York), but definitely by 1 June 1928;[2] purchased 2 February 1929 by Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[3] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Fonds de Léonce Rosenberg, Bibliotheque Kandinsky, Centre Pompidou, Paris: archive no. 884076, photo no. 928. See Giorgia Chierici, "Giorgio de Chirico and America: The Artist's First Solo Show at the Valentine Gallery in New York," Metaphysical Art 19/20 (2020): 125.
[2] The painting was number 160 in a 1928 Valentine Gallery inventory of that date, as well as subsequent inventories ("La conversation 800 dollars"); it was number 8840 on the receipt documenting twelve paintings sold by Rosenberg to Dudensing. See Chierici, 123, 124 n. 45, 125.
[3] Per Valentine Gallery sales records, 1926-1944, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Chierici, 120 n. 32, 125. See also Dale collection records in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1928
New Paintings by Giorgio de Chirico, Valentine Gallery, New York, 1928-1929.
1931
A Group of Twentieth Century Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1931, no. 9
Living Artists, The Pennsylania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1931, unnumbered checklist in The Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin XXVII, no 145 (January 1932):69
1943
Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 1943-1952 (extended loan), unnumbered catalogue, repro. p. 16
1952
Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1952, no. 17, repro.
1965
The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.
Bibliography
1931
Dale, Maud. "Twentieth Century Paintings." The Carnegie Magazine V, no. 2 (May 1931):35-37, repro. [reprint from foreward to catalogue of 1931 Carnegie exhibition of paintings from the Chester Dale collection.]
1943
Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1943:, 16, repro.
1952
Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1952 (2nd ed., 1960; rev. ed., 1965): 17, repro.
1960
Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960 (2nd ed.): 18, repro.
1965
Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 17, repro.
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 27.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 20, repro.
1971
Bruni Sakraischik, Claudio. Catalogo generale Giorgio De Chirico, volume primo opere dal 1908 al 1930*. Milan, 1971: fig. 78.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 68, repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 117, repro.
Inscriptions
lower right: G. de Chirico
Wikidata ID
Q20192684