Metaphysical Art: 19/20

This book opens with the de Chirico Foundation's President Paolo Picozza discussing the current state of scholarship on the de Chirico and the many initiatives launched in the continuing celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Master's death. The editorial is followed by Fabio Benzi's article, which tracks down influence on young de Chirico of the vibrant cultural milieu of the Greek capital, especially for his reading of Nietzsche. German culture returns in Ara H. Merjian's dense essay, and explores how de Chirico's Metaphysical imagery, contributed to profoundly influencing politicized representational strategies between the World Wars. Unpublished archival materials (here published in English) is at the core of Victoria Noel-Johnson's study documenting in great detail works by de Chirico in the collection of the Belgian collector and Surrealist art patron, René Gaffé. Giorgia Chierici's investigation into the archival sources discovered in the Morgan Archives in New York and the sales records kept at the MoMA not only allows us to identify the works on display in de Chirico's first American exhibition at the Valentine gallery, but also helps trace down other works gravitating around that venue and its merchants-owners: Valentine Dudensing and Pierre Matisse. The focus of Roberta Di Nicola's essay is a philosophical reading of de Chirico's work as theatrical set designer for D'Annunzio's pastoral tragedy The Daughter of Iorio while Maurice Owens and Russell Richards, have put forward an interpretation of Giorgio de Chirico's novel Ebdòmero.