The Serenity of the Scholar by Giorgio De Chirico

Giorgio De Chirico was born in Volos, Greece on July 10, 1888 and was raised there by Italian parents. While living in Paris in the 1910’s, his homesickness is believed to have led to the mysterious, classically-inspired pictures of empty town squares for which is notably known for where Surrealists championed him as a precursor. De Chirico however was more conservative than the Paris avant-garde and he embraced the qualities of Renaissance and Baroque art which drew criticism from his old supporters.  In recent years his work has attracted more interest and was an influence on new generations of Italian painters in the 1980’s.

The Serenity of the Scholar was painted by him in 1914. The work was done on canvas by oil and charcoal and is currently displayed at the Museum of Modern Art along with other works. This piece was a gift of Sylvia Slifka in honor of Joseph Slifka. This painting is known for its strong geometric lines and shapes similar to the ones he had encountered in Turin, Italy. It has a dreamlike and enigmatic visual which is key touchstone for French Surrealists.

Modernism refers to a reforming movement in art, architecture, music, literature and the applied arts during the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. This painting reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism by its uniqueness and freedom of expression. Exhibited by de Chirico, we the partial structure of man and behind him is part of a city where we can see the emission of smoke from a factory chimney and the shadows of buildings. Apart from this, we can see the unusual object of a large pair of reading glasses.

Looking deeply at this painting, it makes you think, “Is this picture really what it looks like?” Why is there a huge pair of spectacles in an odd place? Is that really the shadow of neighboring buildings or is it also part of the ground and the structure that the pair of glasses is on is a unique piece of structure? Rather than adapting the tradition of Art as it was historically done, de Chirico rejected that concept and experimented, stressing his freedom of expression to what he wanted to depict in this masterpiece. His bizarre effects illustrate surrealism in art which fuels his strong modernistic approach.

What truly drew me to this picture is the pair of glasses. Being a fan of those frames today and looking back to the time this painting was done made me feel astonish to the fact today it still exists. It also represents a form of intuition as reading glasses relate to books and books give us knowledge. I also felt a deep connection with the perceived city structure behind the gentleman as it gives me a feeling that today, this is what cities do look like. Being apart of New York, the picture to me speaks, “City Life.”

Looking at de Chirico’s work, the only question I have is what does the “X” on the wall indicate? Does it really mark the spot?

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79011

http://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_modernism.html

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-de-chirico-giorgio.htm

I do not think that women are still being raised to be “pleasing”. Personally, growing up I never saw women as inferior to men as what was considered long ago; we’re all human beings and to me, the same opportunities that were always available to men, I thought it was the same for women. Today there is a lot more to life for women rather than being trained to become the perfect house wife. They are treated equally and for example can embark on education, pursue careers and be independent.

The narrator’s purpose in writing these “confessions” is to shed light on his experiences in life. If you simply look at the narrator, you make think that he is normal like everyone else but according to him, he had some unfortunate experiences that lead from one thing to another(cause and effect). Due to these confessions, its his way in stating that he is different and by reading his story, we would have a better understanding about him and what he endured throughout his life.

I think the purpose of Pope’s poem is to reason or justify the works of God and how man in this world relates to God and other human beings and living things. He writes about man’s position in this universe and gives examples of why human beings might blame God for certain things. Pope was a believer in God and tried to explain and ease the controversies people had or did not understand about God.

Dorine plays the servant of Maraine and shares a motherly bond with her. When Orgon, Mariane’s father pops in and ordered her to marry Tartuffe, Dorine spoke her mind to Orgon despite the fact that she is a servant and infuriated him. Then later in the play, when Valere, Maraine’s original fiance came to meet Mariane as he learned that she was marrying someone else, they were fighting and was about to break up when Dorine came and knocked some sense into them, creating a plot to prevent the marriage to Tartuffe from happening.

Greetings! My name is Arun and this is my first semester at Baruch as a transfer student. My major is Accounting. For this class, my goal is to definitely read more to further develop and expand on my vocabulary. Apart from the classroom, I enjoy playing guitar, watching horrors or thrillers, playing video games, cooking and talking long walks.