Hebdomeros

By Giorgio de Chirico. Introduction by Fabio Benzi 
 
This seminal 1929 surrealist novel by the painter Giorgio de Chirico merges the realms of dream and reality.

In the artist’s only novel published in his lifetime, de Chirico invites the reader into a world where language, time, space, and meaning are fluid, highlighting themes of mystery, myth, and the uncanny. Following the titular character Hebdomeros as he embarks on a series of philosophical musings and bizarre experiences divorced from a specific place or time, Hebdomeros embraces ambiguity in a profound exploration of the subconscious mind. Highly visual passages evoke the landscapes and compositions of de Chirico’s metaphysical paintings, and non sequiturs mirror the freedom that Surrealism allowed for in art of all categories.

An introduction by the scholar Fabio Benzi contextualizes de Chirico’s work within a broader modernist framework, highlighting its influence on surrealism and its resonance with the literary and artistic movements of the early twentieth century.

Contributors
Giorgio de Chirico, Fabio Benzi, ekphrasis

Designer
Michael Dyer, Remake

Publisher
David Zwirner Books

Publication Date
2025

Size
4.25 x 7 inches
216 pages

ISBN
9781644231630