Synopses & Reviews
Painted in Paris on the eve of World War One, the Metaphysical cityscapes of Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) redirected the course of modernist painting and the modern architectural imagination alike. Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical City examines the two most salient dimensions of the artistand#8217;s early imagery: its representations of architectural space and its sustained engagement with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. and#160;Centering upon a single painting from 1914 and#150; deemed by the painter and#147;the fatal yearand#8221; and#150; each chapter examines why and how de Chiricoand#8217;s self-declared and#147;Nietzschean methodand#8221; takes architecture as its pictorial means and metaphor. The first, full-length study in English to focus on the painterand#8217;s seminal work from pre-war Paris, the book places de Chiricoand#8217;s and#147;literaryand#8221; images back in the context of the cityand#8217;s avant-garde, particularly the circle of Guillaume Apollinaire. and#160;Merjianand#8217;s study sheds light on one of the most influential and least understood figures in 20th-century aesthetics, while also contributing to an understanding of Nietzscheand#8217;s paradoxical consequences for modernism.
Review
andquot;Ara H. Merjianand#39;s and#39;Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical Cityand#39; is a work of genuine exegetical brilliance and deep learning. Whether from the standpoint of its overall reading of de Chirico in a Nietzschean key or its richly textured account of the artistand#39;s pictorial practice, it reshapes our understanding of de Chiricoand#39;s architectural imaginings in ways that are at once compelling and original.andquot; -- Jeffrey T. Schnapp, Harvard University
Review
andquot;Friedrich Nietzscheand#39;s influence on modernist art and poetry was as vast as it was profound. And no painter owed Nietzsche more than Giorgio de Chirico - reason enough for art historians and philosophers to turn to Ara H. Merjianand#39;s thought-provoking study: a reconsideration of painter and philosopher alike, a rethinking of the enigmatic being of time and of architecture.andquot; -- Karsten Harries, Yale University
Review
andquot;Ara H. Merjianand#39;s book offers an original and highly nuanced reading of Giorgio de Chiricoand#39;s Nietzschean approach to the representation of the Metaphysical City and its enigmatic objects, focusing especially on the key year 1914. Drawing on a rich reservoir of visual sources and texts, Merjian casts new light on paintings that have thus far resisted interpretation, while heightening our sense of their purposeful ambiguity. Engaging and beautifully written, this book will be essential to anyone interested in the prewar avant-gardes and their ambivalent relation to both the archaic past and the post-humanist future.andquot; -- Christine Poggi, University of Pennsylvania
Review
andlsquo;Merjian writes engagingly and with warmth. . .This title deepens our understanding of an artist who is of rare complexity.andrsquo;andmdash;Alexander Adams, The Art Newspaperandnbsp;
Review
andldquo;The authorandrsquo;s prose is all one could hope for. . . . Poetic, precise and illuminating, Merjian writes in tune with the intricacies of de Chiricoandrsquo;s metaphysical city. . . . The book successfully captures andlsquo;de Chiricoandrsquo;s notion of the metaphysical city as an immense museum of strangeness.andrsquo;. . . This is an impressive and deeply rewarding book. Merjianandrsquo;s path through the metaphysical city culminates in a new understanding of de Chirico.andrdquo;andmdash;Karen Lang, Burlington Magazine
Synopsis
This innovative interpretation of the Metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, one of the most intriguing artists of the 20th century, reveals their connections to architectural space and Nietzschean philosophy.
Synopsis
For the artist Giorgio de Chirico (18881978), a founder of the Metaphysical art movement, the year 1914 marked a momentous and pivotal time in his aesthetic production. He completed most of his well-known paintings of metaphysical cityscapes that year, just before the advent of World War I, while living in Paris. These paintings emerged within the context of the citys avant-garde circles, and they ultimately redirected the course of modernist painting. Ara H. Merjians fascinating text considers the artists representation of architectural space in relation to his sustained engagement with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and addresses why the painters Nietzschean method” takes architecture as its means and metaphor, a physical premise for metaphysical revelation. This remarkable book is the first significant academic study of Metaphysical painting to be published in English. It not only sheds light on a key figure in the history of 20th-century aesthetics but also contributes to an understanding of Nietzsches impact on modernism.
Synopsis
This innovative study of the Metaphysical cityscapes of Giorgio de Chirico examines their renderings of architectural space in the light of the painterand#8217;s sustained engagement with Nietzschean philosophy.
About the Author
Ara H. Merjian is associate professor of Italian studies at New York University, where he is an affiliate of the Institute of Fine Arts and the Department of Art History.