Introduction Gcbroo:.:henaufdcm Bodeo liegen rings Portal e , Giebeldikher mi,Skulpturen, Wo IV'en",h und Tier vcrmisch., Cen,aur und Sphinx, Satyr,Ch i mii,.., - Fabdu i tngu,cn IBrohnonthegroundlicroundaboUlll'ortals,gab l e· r<Xlf,with .culpturos,/Wh.rr men and anima i sare mi xed, cent.ur a nd , p h ; n x J S a t y r , c h i m . r a f i g u r r o m a icgcnJ"ypaSl . j Hc i nc, "Fiir dicM ouchc" Fora longtime,writingthisbook,l hada wa) ' ofbcg i nning i t in mind. 1 wamcd to imagine mod e rn ism unearthed by some fmure archaeologist, in the form of a handful of i s c o n n c ~ t e d p i c ~ e s left over from a holocaust that had ullcriy wipt;d o m the pi,,, ., ' ~ o m e x t -their hiswry, t! , c family o f la n guages they be l ong e d 10 , a ll IraCe, of a built env i ronment, I wanted Adnlph Menzel'. Moltk e ' Binoculars (fig . 2) to ha v e survived; an d John Heartlicld'. A Neul Man - Master o f a New World (lig. 3); and Pica sso's Italian Woman llig . 4); an d Ka ,i mi r M a l e v i ~ h Complex Pre.entiment ( Hal f-figure in Yd/oUl Shirt) (h .\). The questions that f ollowed from th e though t-expe riment were these. What forms o f life w o " l d f"wre v i e w e ~ r e c o n s t m ~ t from this muterial? What idea o f the world's av a i labi l ity to knowledge wo"ld th ey rcxkon t he ,'anished imag e · makers ha d operated with? What imagining, o f pa't a nd future? Or 01 pa r t an d whole? Would it be j"'t th e a r ~ h a c o l o g i s t s ' that the surv i ving images ha d ruin, void, a n d fragm c ntarincssalready written into them, as counterpo i nt t o th e ir hardn es s an d br i ghtness? T h. rCpl"lition o f ncuer an d neuen in th e Heartficld might strike th e i nterpreters a , Keys t o a ll t h is, hut the words themselve s would m ea n nothing. L ihwisc th e writing nn the hack o f th e e v i ~ h , c l a b o r a t e a n d c a r e f u l , p r e . u m a b l y i n t h c p a i n t e r ' s h a n d O u r a r c h a e o l ogi,ts would not know it read: "The compo .i tion ~ o a l c s c e d ou' nl dements of th • ..,nsati on o f em ptin e ss , 01 lo n e li ne . . o f th e exi tlc. ,ness Ibesvy khndno.tijof life."' And e v e n il by some fluke they p h e r it. ho w fa r wnuld ,hat get them in ma k i ng SenS e of Ma l ev ich', (moderni,m's) to n e? The painting is ostensibly j aunty, almost flippant. I ts man, housc:, an d l andscape have th e look o f toy .But in what SO rt of game? Play ed by which waUlOn ch i ld r e n? Was it the same game as Hcartfield's(or even Mo l tk c',)? I find it hard t o imag i n e any h um an view e r. even on the other , ide o f Armagcddon,notrespondingtothctendernessandpunctilinusne . o f P i ~ a s s o ' s J El Li ss i l"lky:De ,ai l o i modeling i n Italian Woman -lhe shading ofe) " cs and mouth , th e different fig.147(1argerthan sheens an d textures o f what th e woman is wear i ng , th e p,essurcolh an d on l ap actua l .i,< )

Introduction From Farewell to an Idea Episodes From a History of Modernism

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