Aristotle's Crocodile.
Albin Michel| N° d'inventaire | 22891 |
| Format | 17 x 22 |
| Détails | 240 p., paperback with flaps. |
| Publication | Paris, 2019 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782226444776 |
Most of the time, when a painter chooses to treat a philosophical subject, he paints a text. A text or a sentence from this text, a moment from this text, or even a word. Since it is difficult to paint an idea, he must paint a wink that will express this idea to which the totality of the philosopher's thought is summed up: this wink is a detail, but the devil is in the details. What must be seen in a painting that I would call philosophical is the detail that summarizes this philosophy. For Anaxagoras, it is an oil lamp, vegetables for Pythagoras, a jug for Socrates and Xanthippus, tears for Heraclitus, laughter for Democritus, a cup for Socrates, a lantern for Diogenes, a cave for Plato, a crocodile for Aristotle, a lancet for Seneca, a loaf of bread for Marcus Aurelius, a shell for Augustine, this to remain within the limits of ancient philosophy. From Pythagoras to Derrida, via Descartes and Kant, Montaigne and Rousseau, Voltaire and Nietzsche among others, in thirty-four canvases, therefore in thirty-four philosophers, Michel Onfray offers a history of philosophy through painting!
Most of the time, when a painter chooses to treat a philosophical subject, he paints a text. A text or a sentence from this text, a moment from this text, or even a word. Since it is difficult to paint an idea, he must paint a wink that will express this idea to which the totality of the philosopher's thought is summed up: this wink is a detail, but the devil is in the details. What must be seen in a painting that I would call philosophical is the detail that summarizes this philosophy. For Anaxagoras, it is an oil lamp, vegetables for Pythagoras, a jug for Socrates and Xanthippus, tears for Heraclitus, laughter for Democritus, a cup for Socrates, a lantern for Diogenes, a cave for Plato, a crocodile for Aristotle, a lancet for Seneca, a loaf of bread for Marcus Aurelius, a shell for Augustine, this to remain within the limits of ancient philosophy. From Pythagoras to Derrida, via Descartes and Kant, Montaigne and Rousseau, Voltaire and Nietzsche among others, in thirty-four canvases, therefore in thirty-four philosophers, Michel Onfray offers a history of philosophy through painting!