The Metaphysical and the Neo-Metaphysical

By Leyla Yasemin Tarhan (Pomona College)

Florence may be fairly called a city obsessed with its past. Its narrow streets burst with historical sites and museums and the many palazzi, churches and monuments make it easy to believe that it has hardly changed since the Renaissance. And who could blame the Florentines for celebrating their glorious history?

But at times, this enforced preservation of the past seems a bit oppressive. And so, the rare appearance of contemporary art comes as a welcome change. The Frediano Farsetti Gallery can generally be counted on for such refreshment. Its recent exhibit Neo-Metaphysical: Giorgio de Chirico and Andy Warhol not only displays thought-provoking modern art in a tasteful way, but it also juxtaposes two important artists from the twentieth century and traces their influences through the decades.

World-famous for his artistic reproductions of pop imagery, such as Marilyn Monroe’s portrait and the iconic Campbell’s Soup^TM can, Warhol also reinterpreted de Chirico’s surrealist landscapes. The two artists worked in separate eras, de Chirico primarily in the first half and Warhol mainly in the second half of the twentieth century. The former’s “metaphysical paintings” sought to reach a deeper sensory level within his audience, depicting an extreme abstraction of reality inhabited by faceless figures comprised of geometric shapes and allegorical images. De Chirico also produced metal sculptures of a similar aesthetic, which stand upright almost like distorted suits of armor.

Some decades later, Warhol applied his reproductive methods to the older artist’s paintings. The works exhibited at the gallery include both pencil sketches and colorful prints (á la Campbell’s Soup Cans) after de Chirico’s original works. Some of Warhol’s reproductions bear the same title as their inspiration, while other titles have been changed. For example, de Chirico’s painting entitled Architettura e Filosofia (Architecture and Philosophy) has been renamed The Poet and his Muse in Warhol’s version.

The gallery’s presentation of these two artists’ works highlights the themes of repetition and reproduction in art. Warhol’s prints have always prompted philosophical reflections on the nature of originality in art. But this example of an artist taking direct inspiration from another artist presents new questions. Has Warhol created new art by copying de Chirico’s originals in a different medium? In the course of reproduction, has Warhol deepened or trivialized the abstract value of de Chirico’s work? Are his stripped-down versions more abstract or more superficial (or both)?

The exhibit further prompts these questions through the use of well-chosen quotes printed on the starkly white walls. For example, Warhol is quoted as saying, “Isn’t life just a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” and “I think everyone should be a machine. I paint in this way because I would like to be a machine.” The arched ceilings of the gallery echo with slightly eerie guitar music, casting a surrealist mood over the entire exhibit. In the midst of this environment, one cannot help but ponder the nature of artistic inspiration and its ramifications for the value of originality in art.

The Frediano Farsetti Gallery is located on Lungarno Guicciardini, 21-23r. Upcoming exhibits include Furniture and Ancient Paintings and Paintings and Sculptures from the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Entrance to the Gallery is free of charge.

Bibliography:

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A1106&page_number=1&template_id=6&sort_order=1&section_id=T021740#skipToContent

http://warholfoundation.org/legacy/biography.html

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=4387786

http://www.neurodiversity.com/bio_warhol.html