The National Gallery of Australia has unveiled its latest acquisition - a painting by European modernist artist Giorgio de Chirico.The 1916 piece, Death of a Spirit, forms part of the gallery's surrealism collection.The gallery's director, Ron Radford, says the purchase was made possible by a small group of benefactors, but he will not reveal the price."It's very hard for us to buy works in this area because they're so expensive and so rare, and there are very few de Chirico's of this period left in private hands," he said. "It came from a Belgian private collector."Mr Radford says de Chirico's influence within the art world should not be underestimated."We have this special gallery devoted to surrealism ... and he was the key figure," he said. "He also was the key figure to influence Australian surrealism. His work, shown in London, actually influenced Australian surrealist artists as well."Mr Radford says the painting will be displayed alongside other works from early European modernism, like Monet's Waterlilies.