The Will to Live and the Will to Power: The Dual Nature of Giorgio de Chirico (2025)

The vision and the enigma: Nietzsche's aura in De Chirico's art

Wisdom, Armenian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 13 No. 2 (2019): 2-2019, 2019

Giorgio De Chirico definitely stands out as a peculiar character of the Italian Novecento and his art ties directly with Nietzsche’s philosophy whose eternal questions paved the way to his “immanent metaphysics” which is typified and pervaded by an ever-present melancholia brought about by a heightened awareness of the death of God. Grappling with “the world seen for the first time” De Chirico’s narrative doesn’t depict reality rather its ghost, the latter is seen by dint of revelations and hallucinations. This paper sheds light onto some crucial kinships between the two characters as not only philosophical concerns are vital but illness too. The philosopher suffered since his very childhood from severe migraine and then from a psychiatric illness with depression while the painter unknowingly suffered from migraine aura. This ailment, affecting the fragile border amid perceived reality and hallucinated reality, turned out to be a remarkable source of inspiration which boosted the visions and the enigmas the artist was entwined with. Overall, Nietzsche ushered in a picture of the world that De Chirico has wholeheartedly shared, however, in the light of his disorder, the empathy went even further and this is the noteworthy aspect this paper aims at underscoring.

Giorgio de Chirico and the Nonsense of Life: Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Metaphysical Painting

Aesthetics (The Japanese Society for Aesthetics), no.21, 2018

An analysis about GIorgio de Chirico's "Metaphysical Painting" theory from the point of view of "Nonsense of Life" in relation with Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer.

The Influence of Friedrich Nietzsche's Metaphysics on Giorgio de Chirico's Art

2013

The influence of the Friedrich Nietzsche on the work of Giorgio de Chirico is hardly a secret. A 1910 letter de Chirico’s wrote to his friend Fritz Gartz asserts this: ‘I am the only man to have truly understood Nietzsche – all of my work demonstrates this.’ Consequently, scholars have explored the role the German philosopher played in de Chirico’s intellectual development as well as in his work. Several studies rather successfully identify ‘Nietzschean’ themes such as melancholy, classicism, and the absence of absolute truth with de Chirico’s paintings, yet they fail in their attempts to decode the ‘meaning’ of de Chirico’s aesthetic practice by looking to the philosopher’s writing. This essay begins by acknowledging the difficulty of extracting ‘sense’ from de Chirico’s pre-1915 works for they are very much, as Willard Bohn described works ‘largely resistant to interpretation’. Following from this, the essay will look to specific works by de Chirico to argue that Nietzsche’s philosophical concerns are expressed aesthetically in de Chirico’s imagery in his pre-1915 works.

Giorgio De Chirico's Metaphysical Painting, Nietzsche, and the Obscurity of Light

California Italian Studies Journal, 2010

Review of "Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical City Nietzsche Modernism Paris" by Ara Merjian, Italian Culture, 34:2 (2016), 124-125

MELANCHOLY AS A THEME IN GIORGIO DE CHIRICO’S EARLY METAPHYSICAL PAINTINGS (1910-1915)

MELANCHOLY AS A THEME IN GIORGIO DE CHIRICO’S EARLY METAPHYSICAL PAINTINGS (1910-1915), 2022

In this thesis, I will examine how melancholia, which has been characterized in different ways throughout the ages, was handled as a theme in the pre-1915 metaphysical paintings of Greek-born Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico, in particular, the origins of the iconographic elements he used in the works of this period. I will discuss them within the framework of his personal life history, chronic illnesses, and the effect of two important names who had influenced his art both visually and intellectually, Arnold Böcklin and Friedrich Nietzsche. De Chirico described himself as a melancholic, and we see the huge impact of melancholy on his art. The visual grammar of the artist's metaphysical paintings is quite unique. Thanks to this visual metaphysical language, we can see that he created both melancholic and enigmatic atmosphere in his works. In order to create this atmosphere, he used many iconographic elements. As a result of the examinations, we see that the source of these iconographic elements is sometimes his own personal history, sometimes the influence of Böcklin but mostly Nietzsche. In addition to his admiration and passion for Nietzsche, de Chirico also saw himself as the substitute for him and his bond with Nietzsche accompanied him throughout his life. So we can say that de Chirico's depictions of melancholy have a peerless place in the history of art. However, we should add that it is very difficult to interpret the works of the painter without knowing the factors that constitute the personal history, artistic and philosophical background of the artist. Keywords: Giorgio de Chirico, Melancholy, Metaphysical Painting, Enigma, Ariadne

Massimo Bontempelli between de Chirico and Nietzsche: Mannequins, Marionettes, and the De-Humanized Subject in La scacchiera davanti allo specchio and Eva ultima, Romance Studies, Volume 27, Number 4, November 2009 , pp. 298-310(13

Review of Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical City, by Alessandro Giammei

Nietzsche and the Limitations of the Will to Power

Nietzsche’s notion of the will to power has long been misunderstood and not given sufficient attention for its utility in understanding social dynamics. Much of this trouble is a function of the polemic overtones of Nietzsche’s writing style. We should read Nietzsche not as a Nazi, nihilist, or motivational speaker–as many have in the past–but rather as a perspectivist illuminating a serendipity by which we can understand much of the world–i.e., will to power. This paper will advance an immanent critique of the self-sufficiency of Nietzsche's notion of the will to power. Following an overview of the notion and how it should be interpreted, will to power will put it through a “stress test.” This paper will show precisely where the notion “breaks” and how we should remedy this shortcoming with a supplemented understanding of will–namely with my notion of will to decadence. The utility of this supplemented understanding of will is it better explains various forms of decadence (i.e., decay and stagnation) in art and aesthetics in a manner which Nietzsche’s notion of the will to power alone cannot.

Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical City: Nietzsche, Modernism, Paris