"De Chirico found himself in 1912 confronted with the problem of following one of the roads already opened or of opening a new road. He avoided Fauvism as well as Cubism and introduced what could be called 'metaphysical painting'. Instead of exploiting the coming medium of abstraction, he organized on his canvases the meeting of elements which could only meet in a 'metaphysical world'. These elements, painted in the minutest technique, were 'exposed' on a horizontal plane in orthodox perspective. This technique, in opposition to the Cubist or the purely abstract formula in full bloom at the moment, protected de Chirico’s position and allowed him to lay down the foundation of what was to become Surrealism ten years later."

“the beginning of a cult devoted to the material on the canvas – the actual pigment..”

“Well, this man wanted to know why I stopped painting .. ..and he had said because of dealers and money and various reasons. Largely moralistic reasons.. ..But you know; it wasn’t like that. It’s like you break a leg; you don't mean to do it.”

“Another important point which you so very accurately sensed concerns the idea that the glass in actual fact is not meant to be looked at . It should be accompanied by a 'literary' text, as amorphous as possible, which never took shape. And the two elements, glass for the eyes, text for the ears and understanding, should complement each other and above all prevent one or the other from taking on an aesthetic-plastic or literary form. All in all, I am hugely indebted to you for having stripped bare my Bride stripped bare .”

“Painting is over and done with. Who could do anything better than this propeller? Look, could you do that?”

“I wanted to get away from the physical act of painting.. .For me the title , with inscription under: 'Fresh Widow Copyright Rose Sélavy, 1920', was very important.. .I was interested in ideas – not merely visual products. I wanted to put painting once again at the service of the mind.”

“..we must remember that this 'art coefficient' is a personal expression of art 'à l'état brute', that is, still in a raw state, which must be 'refined' as pure sugar from molasses, by the spectator; the digit of this coefficient has no bearing whatsoever on his verdict.. ..the role of the spectator is to determine the weight of the work on the aesthetic scale.”