' (''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' or ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'') is the oil painting cycle by

Lena Hades Lena Alekseevna Hades (russian: Лена Алексеевна Хейдиз; born October 2, 1959) is a Russian artist, writer and art theory, art theorist. Early life Lena Hades was born in Siberia on October 2, 1959. Her father worked as c ...

painted from 1995 to 1997 and inspired by

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

's philosophical novel of the same name. The painter created her first painting on December 1995 in Moscow. The ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'' cycle is a series of twenty-eight oil paintings made by the artist from 1995 to 1997 and thirty graphic works made in 2009. Twenty-four of the paintings depict so-called round-headed little men and their struggles in life. The remaining four depict Zarathustra himself, his eagle and serpent. Six paintings of the series were purchased by the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and by some important private collectors. The oil painting ''Also Sprach Zarathustra'' series was exhibited several times — including the exhibition at the Institute of Philosophy of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

in 1997 and at the First

Moscow Biennale The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is one of the most important Russian cultural events and was founded in 2003. First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art The First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (January 28 – February 28, 2005) ca ...

of contemporary art in 2005. In 2004, a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

edition of Nietzsche's book ''Also sprach Zarathustra'' was published in Russian and German by the Institute of Philosophy of the

. The edition includes 20 Hades paintings from this cycle and the art critical essays written by three art historians Alexander Yakimovich, Olga Yushkowa and

Jean-Christophe Ammann Jean-Christophe Ammann (14 January 1939 – 13 September 2015) was a Swiss art historian and curator. Life and work Born in Berlin, Ammann, son of a chemist, grew up in a German-speaking family in Fribourg. He actually wanted to become a doctor ...

, professor at the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

in Frankfurt and the director of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

in 1991-2001.

Paintings

All paintings of the cycle the artist herself calls visual metaphors to the book and not illustrations. In

' interview with Nietzsche.ru portal, she told about the prehistory of the cycle:

Painting perception

Jean-Christophe Ammann called the painting of the series tablets. "Figurative language of Lena Hades expresses itself often intentionally as a poster, because we see here some visual tablets which should stir and awaken. At the same time, the language of her images remains faithful to the fundamental task of the artist: every artist should be a dervish, not only in order to conjure the collective memory, being in constant motion, but also to stay in the thought and memory of our times. Lena Hades is a dervish." File:Zarathustraundzwerg.jpg, Zarathustra and dwarf, 1997 File:Eagleandsnake.jpg, Eagle and snake, 1997. File:Blinde.jpg, And the blindness of the blind one, and his seeking and groping... 1996. File:Chaos.jpg, 1997.

Publications

References

Sources

External links

Lena Hades' worksLena Hades' blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Also Sprach Zarathustra (painting) Adaptations of works by Friedrich Nietzsche Painting series Cultural depictions of Zoroaster Thus Spoke Zarathustra Paintings based on literature