Théâtre de l’Odéon, 1987
GPE-0062
Lithograph
Arches
50 x 65 cm
Signed and dated on the recto, bottom right: “Giulio Paolini 1987”
Autograph numbering on the recto, bottom left
150 in Arabic numerals from 1/150 to 150/150
30 in Roman numerals from I/XXX to XXX/XXX
Unione Piemontese Sviluppo Edilizio, Turin
Marco Noire Editore, Turin
The print was commissioned from the artist by the Unione Piemontese Sviluppo Edilizio (UPSE), Turin, as a Christmas gift for its members.
Inserted in the background of a photographic view of the Great Sphinx of Giza and of the Pyramid of Khafre is an eighteenth-century reproduction of the Pantheon of Rome and of Piazza della Rotonda located opposite it – with an obelisk of Egyptian origin – animated by scenes from everyday life. Clearly visible as though it were a sign in the area corresponding to the pediment of the Pantheon is an illustrated plate documenting the eighteenth-century Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris, an impressive example of Neoclassical architecture.
The scenographic architectural montage dominated by the mystery of the monumental Sphinx is based on imaginary affinities and implicit references; it suspends the evolution of the historical time, in favour of a circular time, governed by continuity and by intimate correspondences.
The original collage on which the print is based is documented in the online Catalogue Raisonné of the works on paper at number GPC-0736.
• Painting portraying the Piazza della Rotonda with the Pantheon, Rome.
• Engraving portraying the Théâtre de l’Odéon, Paris.
| 1992 | Bonn, Bonner Kunstverein, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Werk 1967-1992, 24 February - 29 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 63). |
| 1993 | Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das druckgraphische Werk 1967-1992, 16 January - 7 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 63). |
| 1995 | Lisbon, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian / Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Múltiplos e Obra Gráfica 1969-1995, 16 March - 28 May, not repr. in the exhibition brochure (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 63). |
| 1996 | L'Aquila, MUSPAC Museo Sperimentale Arte Contemporanea, L'Arte Povera italiana, 1-13 July, no catalogue; edition X/XXX. |
| 1996 | Apolda, Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques, 27 September - 27 October (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 63). |
| 1997 | Göppingen, Kunsthalle, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Druckwerk 1967-1995, 9 March - 13 April (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 63). |
| 2007-08 | L’Aquila, MUSPAC Museo Sperimentale Arte Contemporanea, Anni Settanta. Una nuova idea dell’arte, 21 December 2007 - 21 February 2008, no catalogue; edition X/XXX. |
| 2008 | L’Aquila, MUSPAC Museo Sperimentale Arte Contemporanea, Il Dono dell’Arte, 20 December 2008 - 6 January 2009, no catalogue; edition X/XXX. |
| 2013 | L’Aquila, MUSPAC Museo Sperimentale Arte Contemporanea, Arte Povera Arte Concettuale, 3-10 October, no catalogue; edition X/XXX. |
| • | G. Paolini, Suspense. Breve storia del vuoto in tredici stanze (Florence: Hopeful Monster editore, 1988), repr. p. 237 (titled “Théâtre de l’Odéon (con Roberta)”). |
| • | Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 63, col. repr. (edition XII/XXX). |
| • | Carte Noire. Noire Editions 1980/2015 (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2016), col. repr. n. pag. (edition IV/XXX). |
