The book "Metaphysics / Metaphysics: Modernity and Melancholy", edited and prepared by the prominent Italian historian and academic Vincenzo Trioni, presents an exceptional artistic and critical study that rereads one of the most influential and mysterious artistic schools of the twentieth century: the "Metaphysical School" (Art Metafisica). The text - which originally constitutes a catalog and a huge knowledge encyclopedia accompanying a major international exhibition project in Milan - stems from a philosophical vision that believes that artistic metaphysics is notIt is just a fleeting historical movement that began and ended in the rooms of the Villa del Seminario psychiatric hospital in Ferrara during World War I. Rather, it is an open visual system, and a continuous existential way of looking at the world and engaging with the crises of modernity through feelings of isolation, disturbing tranquility, and melancholy (melancholia).The text takes the reader on a profound visual and intellectual journey that exceeds 600 pages, tracing the history of the movement and its transformations. The book begins with the hard core and founding fathers of the school; Such as Giorgio de Quirico, Alberto Savinio, Carlo Carrra, Giorgio Morandi, and Filippo de Pisis, displaying their masterpieces that heralded complete alienation from reality. Where deserted Italian squares, silent statues, and distant trains seem to hang outside time and space. Then, Trioni deftly moves to observe the “shadowsand “metaphysical frequencies” extending across Europe and America, revealing how this surreal and mysterious atmosphere seeped into contemporary artists and disparate creative fields that included architecture, photography, fashion design, cinema, and even animation.What gives this reference exceptional weight and goes beyond the idea of a traditional artistic catalog is its inclusion in its second part of a “conceptual dictionary” that includes 54 critical terms and concepts. A group of elite researchers, philosophers, novelists, art historians, and digital media scholars participated in writing these terms, through which they analyzed the currentity and aesthetics of metaphysical thought in our contemporary era. This book represents a very important documentary and critical work for all those interested in modern and contemporary art, as it proves with conclusive evidence thatThe silent and desolate paintings that were painted a century ago still, to this day, accurately express the anxiety of modern man, his melancholy, and his constant search for the secret behind the appearances of things.
If you wish, we can expand on the review of the most prominent concepts contained in the 54-item dictionary, or learn about the impact of De Chirico’s philosophy in shaping contemporary artistic awareness, or explore the most prominent stations and exhibitions accompanying this artistic project in Milan. What focus do you want to focus on now?
