Virtual Museum of Political Art

New Constructivism - Philosophy, Literature, Economics

The paintings at this site show famous philosophers. Most of the portraits are created to illustrate philosophical works in the internet and in books. The ornaments, which form the faces, contain allusions to the work of the philosophers (e.g. the "Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason" and the porcupines in Schopenhauer's portrait, the "dancing star" in Nietzsche's face, the white swans and the one black swan in Popper's portrait and so on.)

Most of the pictures are also published in Patrick Horvath: "Große Denker", Selva-edition, Amstetten-Linz 2003, ISBN.3-9010-4045-5.

Werner Horvath: "Friedrich Nietzsche - the Three Metamorphoses". Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, Crete 2005.

"Of the three metamorphoses of the spirit I tell you: how the spirit becomes a camel; and the camel, a lion; and the lion, finally, a child."

This painting was the official image for the programme and the poster of the international congress "Nietzsche y la hermeneutica", held at the University of Valencia from Nov.5th to Nov.7th, 2007. It is also placed at the cover of the book "Nietzsche y la hermeneutica" by Francisco Arenas-Dolz, Luca Giancristofaro and Paolo Stellino (ISBN13: 978-84-7642-744-8). The painting was also published in the magazine "Educação" (http://revistaeducacao.uol.com.br/ ), ISSN 1415-5486, special edition on Friedrich Nietzsche, published by Editora Segmento, in São Paulo, Brazil, 2007. 

This painting illustrates a quotation by Carl von Clausewitz: “War is thus more than a true chameleon, because it changes its nature to some extent in each concrete case. It is also, however, when it is regarded as a whole and in relation to the tendencies that dominate within it, a fascinating trinity composed of primordial violence, hatred, and enmity, which are to be regarded as a blind natural force; the play of chance and probability, within which the creative spirit is free to roam; and its element of subordination, as an instrument of policy, which makes it subject to pure reason.” (Carl von Clausewitz: "Vom Krieg")

This picture is the cover-illustration of the book by Patrick Horvath: "Große Denker", Selva-edition, Amstetten-Linz 2003, ISBN.3-9010-4045-5. It is also published in "Philosophie 1 - Raison, verite, connaissance" by Michel Larocque and Vincent Rowell, Beauchemin, Cheneliere Education, Montreal - Quebec, Canada, ISBN 978-2-7616-4619-2.

This painting is the cover-image of the book "Niccolo Machiavelli - Der Fürst", RaBaKa-Publishing, ISBN: 978-3-940185-05-1, 2007.
It is also included in "Worldviews: Contact and Change" by A.Fitton, D.M.Goodman and E. O'Connor, a Grade 8 social studies textbook published by Pearson Education, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-0-13-198719-7, 2007.
It is also published in "politik & kommunikation", a political magazine by Helios Media, illustrating the article "Sei Löwe, sei Fuchs!" by Marco Althaus (Berlin, September 2008).

Werner Horvath: "Kouros", oil and acrylic on canvas, 160 x 60 cm, 2012 (left). "Thales of Miletus", oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm, 2012 (half left). "Socrates", oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, 2002 (half right). "Archimedes of Syracuse", oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm, 2012 (right).

A kouros  is the modern term given to those representations of male youths which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece. Kouroi are beardless, take a formulaic advancing posture, and are most often nude. At the same time when kouros-statues were created, pre-Socratic philosophy appeared in ancient Greece. Therefore in the painting you find a deawing in the sand, illustrating a theory of Thales of Miletus, one of the main representatives of this school. The portrait od Thales of Miletus you find in the middle including another theory of the pre-Socratic philosopher and mathematician. 

Emanuel Adler, the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Professor of Israeli Studies at the University of Toronto and Professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, writes about this particular picture: "...a community of people, weaved into the face of the 'father' of International Relations, just like Leviathan's face in Hobbes' book." He chose this picture as cover-illustration for his new book "Communitarian International Relations - The epistemic foundations of International Relations", Routledge, New York 2005, ISBN.0-415-33590-6 (simultaneously published in the USA and Canada).

This drawing is also published in Edwin Stiller: "dialog sowi - Unterrichtswerk für Sozialwissenschaften", C.C.Buchner-edition, Bamberg 2002 as an illustration of the chapter "Thomas Hobbes: Der Mensch ist dem Menschen ein Wolf".

This painting was published as the cover-image of "Constructivist - Foundations", Vol.2, Number 2-3, March 2007, Festschrift for Ernst von Glasersfeld, celebrating his 90th birthday.

This drawing was the cover-image of the magazine "DIE IDEE", number I, Würzburg, April 2007.

This drawing is also published in Ellen Geerings: "het oog in de storm - Wegwijs in de filosofie", Handbook 2, Boom (publisher), Amsterdam 2007 (ISBN 9789085060759), illustrating the Nietzsche-chapter.

Werner Horvath: "John Locke". Color pencils on paper, 32 x 24 cm, Crete 1999 (left) and "John Locke", oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, Crete 2010 (right).

This drawing is also published in Edwin Stiller: "dialog sowi - Unterrichtswerk für Sozialwissenschaften", C.C.Buchner-edition, Bamberg 2002 as an illustration of the chapter "John Locke: Theorie der Freiheit - und vor allem des Eigentums". 

Werner Horvath: "Niccolo Machiavelli". Color pencils on paper, 32 x 24 cm, Crete 1999 (left) and "Niccolo Machiavelli", oil and acrylic on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, 2003/2012 (right).

The drawing was also published in "Politics of the fox' in Maldives", Maldives Culture, www.maldivesculture.com .

The original of this drawing is in private property of Prof. Paul Watzlawick. This image was also published in "Aria Pulita" Numero 3, Gennaio 2005, in an article titled "Italia senza fumo passivo".

The painting "Sigmund Freud" is also published in Heber Ferraz-Leite: "Malende Ärzte Österreichs", Selva-edition, Amstetten 2000, ISBN.3-9010-4041-2. It is the cover-illustration of the book "Freud und Leid", Selva-edition, Amstetten-Linz 1999, ISBN.3-9010-4040-4.

This painting is also used as an illustration in the "CPH Hotelguide 2009/2010".

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