Alberto Savinio (Athens 1891 - Rome 1952)

Alberto Savinio (the pseudonym of Andrea de Chirico, younger brother of Giorgio) was born in Athens in 1891. He moved to Munich in 1906 and, from there to Milan. In 1910 he arrived in Paris where he frequented Avant-Garde circles. He was a writer and musician, only later dedicating himself to painting, developing a fantastic vision which reflected the metaphysics of De Chirico, nevertheless with some leanings towards French Surrealism. He returned to Italy after the outbreak of the First World War and he became a friend of Carrà and Morandi. Between 1918 and 1922 he was active in the Valori Plastici movement as a critic and theorist, contributing to its review. He held his first exhibition in Paris in 1927, continuing his career in painting from that time on.
From 1939, there followed important exhibitions in Rome and abroad. He continued his work as a writer as well. He published Hermaphrodito in 1918, La casa ispirata in 1925, Angelica o la notte di maggio in 1927, Capitano Ulisse in 1934, and Narrate, uomini, la vostra storia in 1942. He was also a musician and composer. In 1954 the Venice Biennale held an important retrospective of his work.
Savinio, together with De Chirico, is one of the prominent figures of 20th century art in Italy, thanks also to a more open international arena, free from local interests and Fascist hostility. His worrying and visionary world may have some similarities with that of Max Ernst, but above all with the mythological and classical universe of De Chirico with whom he also shared a deep vein of melancholy. He died in Rome in 1952.