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Write an answer to the following question. Your essay should be approximately three pages in length, not including any prints, pictures, or images.

Focus: Fascism and Modernism (Essay Six)

Look at the reproduction of de Chirico’s “The Disturbing Muses” (1919) on the class website. You can find out something about de Chirico (his life as an artist) at: http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_35.html. De Chirico was an enigmatic figure, one who had close friendships with members of the so-called ‘futurist movement’ which is considered to be the intellectual and cultural progenitor of fascism in Italy. You can find a brief historical overview of the period at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/11/eust/ht11eust.htm. De Chirico himself was often accused of fascist symnpathies, although you can read a defense of him at: http://www.fondazionedechirico.it/eng/metafisica/dic2002/discipline_research.html. However, all agree that his work laid the path for the surrealist movement in the 1920’s. So; in “The Disturbing Muses”, what do you see that is indicative of the period (remember, it was painted in the immediate aftermath of WWI)? In your view, is this ‘political art’, or is it simply fantasy? Is it a harbinger of things to come, or is it merely entertainment?