Paul Valéry
John Rodker, London, 1929, English
Nonfiction, Art and Cultural History; Nonfiction, Graphic Design; Nonfiction, General

Essay on Leonardo by the French poet Paul Valéry, written in 1895.

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Cino Zucchi

Originally a poet, Paul Valéry decided to quit poetry and write about almost every field of human experience, revealing himself one of the sharpest minds of the last century. Degas Dance Drawing, Tel Quel, Rhumbs, and the endless quest of his Quaderns are among the writings that primarily touched my intellect. In Monsieur Teste, Valéry tries to present the picture of a “pure intelligence,” interested in its own mechanisms more that in the object of that intelligence. The Introduction to the Method of Leonardo da Vinci, one of his earliest essays, goes way beyond the argument of its title, advocating for a unity between the phenomenological level and the search for deep structures in nature and design.

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