The Arcades Project - Operi

The grandiose mechanical-materialistic divinations of Wiertz have to be seen in
the context of the subjects of his painting-and, to be sure, not only the ideal
utopian subjects but those allied to colportage and the ghastly.
Advertisement by Wiertz: "Monsieur Wiertz requires a servant skilled in the
painting of medieval accessories to do all his research work, etcetera, etcetera,
such as , etcetera." A.J. Wiertz, Oeuvres litteraires (Paris, 1870), p. 235.
Of particular importance, the great "legend" with which Wiertz has accompanied his
Pensees et visions d'une tete coupee (1boughts and Visions of a Severed Head). The first
thing that strikes one about this magnetopathic experience is the grandiose sleight of hand
which the consciousness executes in death. "What a singular thing! The head is here
under the scaffoldl and it believes that it still exists above, fonning part of the body, and
continuing to wait for the blow that will separate it from the trunk." A.J. Wiertz, OeuV1-es
litteraires (Paris, 1870), p. 492. (At work here in Wiertz is the same inspiration that ani­
mates the unforgettable short story by Ambrose Bierce.,18 The rebel who is hanged from a
bridge over the river,)
Does fashion die because it can no longer keep up the tempo-at least in certain fields?
VVhile, on the other hand, there are fields in which it can follow the tempo and even
dictate it?
Title of a painting by Wiertz: Les Choses du present devant les hommes de I'avenir
. Note­
worthy is the tendency of this painter toward allegory. For example, in the
catalogue description of the picture Une Second apres la mort, we read: "Consider
tlle idea of a book that has fallen from one's hands, and on its cover these words:
Difly Achievements of Humanity." Oeuvres litteraires, p. 496. Figure of "civilization"
and many other allegories in Le Demier Canon.
Painting by Wiertz: Le SozifJlet d'une dame beige. "This painting was executed
with tlle intention of proving the necessity of having women trained in the nse of
firearms. It was Monsieur Wiertz, as we know, who had the idea of setting up a
special rifle range for ladies and offering, as prize in the competition, a portrait of
the victorious heroine." Oeuvres litteraires, p. 501 (catalogue of works, edited by
the painter himself) .
Passage on the museum in Proust.4!l
Boredom of the ceremonial scenes depicted in historical paintings, and boredom in gen­
eral. Boredom and museum, Boredom and battle scenes.
Excursus on the battle scene!
To the complex of boredom and waiting (a metaphysics of waiting is indispensable) one
could no doubt assimilate, in a particular context, the metaphysics of doubt. In an allegory