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Senza titolo, 1963

Archive number

GPO-0043

English title

Untitled

Technique

Photographic reproduction on masonite panel mounted on a stretcher

Dimensions

22.5 x 18 cm

Inscriptions by the artist

Signed and dated on the verso on a white paper square: “Giulio Paolini” (upper left),”1963” (lower left)

Collection

Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini, Turin

Acquisitions and loans

Gift of the artist, 25 October 2012, archive no. GPO-0043

Description

A colour reproduction of a view of Vernazza is mounted on a masonite support with adhesives on the back so that it protrudes from the stretcher that is just slightly wider. On the retro is the photographic detail of a female face.
This work is part of a group of works (from GPO-0028 to GPO-0049) whose common denominator is the presence of an intervention on both the recto and the verso of the painting. Surfaces of various types take turns appearing on the recto (painted paper, graph paper, photographic reproductions, shaped wooden panels), while on the verso (hidden from view) we find the details of images and printed words taken from magazines or from books (whether or not a textual element is present determines the title of the work or, contrarily, the lack of a title, such as in this case).
In this work, just as in two other works from the same year (GPO-0041, GPO-0043), an image appears in its own right for the first time. The choice of subjects does not follow any logical criterion; the image is first of all involved as such: the "iconography is random, almost involuntary", says the artist; "the image is as though it were the image of the image, almost as if to justify the very existence of the painting”.1

1 G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), p. 33 (revised translation, republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant [Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003], p. 110), reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019), p. 33.

Artist’ writings

•	G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 30-31; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 110; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019).

Bibliography

•	Giulio Paolini (Parma: Università di Parma, Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione, 1976), repr. nos. 33-34 (recto and verso).
•	M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 43 p. 77 (with incorrect geographical indication “Camogli”), col. repr. (recto) and b/w (verso).
•	C. Zambianchi, “Riflesso nel tempo. Note sul senso della storia nell’opera di Giulio Paolini”, in S. Bann et al., Il passato al presente. In tema 2 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2016), p. 14, not repr.
•	D. Soutif, “Filigrane. Paolini, il primo quadro e la storia dell’arte”, ibid., p. 94; republished in French in Les Cahiers du Musée national d’art moderne 137 (Paris), Autumn, 2016, p. 80, not repr.