METAPHYSICAL ART: THE DE CHIRICO JOURNAL Format: Paperback

This issue of Metaphysical Art – The de Chirico Journals no. 21/22 (2022), centers around Giorgio de Chirico’s correspondence with his friend Fritz Gartz (1909–1911), which has been transcribed and translated into English. A related essay by Simonetta Antellini discusses de Chirico’s writing style and use of the German language. Other essays include Fabio Benzi’s examination of Florence’s cultural milieu in the years 1910–1911, which analyzes the musical, artistic, literary, and philosophical context in which Metaphysics was born. Elena Pontiggia presents a large and previously unpublished collection of letters written by de Chirico to his mother Gemma Cervetto, which has recently been acquired by the Foundation. Riccardo Dottori’s article offers a new interpretation of the painting Serenata (1910), based on a fresh literary source: On the Cave of the Nymphs by the ancient Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry. Completing this volume is a narrative essay by Italo Calvino entitled Cities of Thought (1983), translated into English and introduced by Anne Greeley, which was published alongside a major Paris retrospective of de Chirico’s metaphysical works.

The Foundation Giorgio e Isa de Chirico was founded in 1986 by the artist’s widow Isabella Pakszwer Far and Claudio Bruni Sakraischik, curator of the Giorgio de Chirico Catalogue of Works (1971-1987), with the aim of safeguarding and promoting Giorgio de Chirico’s art and intellectual work. It maintains and manages the Giorgio de Chirico House Museum, supports exhibitions and research, maintains the archives, and publishes Metaphysical Art – The de Chirico Journals, a biennial periodical dedicated to recent scholarship on Giorgio de Chirico’s art with contributions by internationally recognized academics as well as a new generation of researchers.