Dit autrefois “Gilles”, 1995
GPO-0765
Collage on colour reproduction and on passepartout
100 x 70 cm
Private collection, Como
From December 2000 to December 2002 on loan at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Turin
From 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014 on loan at Museo Cantonale d'Arte di Lugano
A colour photographic reproduction of the figure of Gilles painted by Jean-Antoine Watteau (Pierrot, dit autrefois Gilles, 1718-19) is divided into two different levels: the upper part of the portrait, half-hidden by a blank sheet, is framed in a central position, while the lower, cut-out part, is applied to the white passepartout that serves as an outer frame.
The title taken from Watteau's painting emphasizes the figure's ambiguous identity – currently referred to as Pierrot, but at one time known as Gilles – who inspired the artist to make this "problematic" painting. The figure half-hidden by the white square and divided between two frames cannot be identified: present and absent at the same time, it calls into question the "dilemma" of the representation and the portrait as such.
The same iconographic theme was also developed in another version from the same year (GPO-0911).
Jean-Antoine Watteau, Pierrot, dit autrefois Gilles, 1718-19, oil on canvas, 184 x 149 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
| 1996 | Rome, French Academy, Villa Medici, Giulio Paolini. Correspondances, 13 March - 28 April, cat. no. 17, col. repr. |
| 1998-99 | Siena, Palazzo delle Papesse, Centro Arte Contemporanea, Itinere. 1, 21 November 1998 - 30 January 1999, repr. in the exhibition booklet n. pag. (exhibition view). |
| 2000-01 | Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Arte povera in collezione, 6 December 2000 - 25 March 2001, catalogue entry by M. Disch p. 222, col. repr. p. 223. |
| 2002 | Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Arte Povera: Art from Italy 1967-2002, 23 August - 11 November, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 138, col. repr. p. 93, commentary by M. Disch. |
| 2018-19 | Milan, Fondazione Carriero, Giulio Paolini. Del Bello ideale, 26 October 2018 - 10 February 2019, col. repr. vol. 1 pp. 130-131 (exhibition view), 176. |
| • | G. Paolini in Giulio Paolini. Fuori programma, exhibition catalogue, Bergamo, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2006), p. 80 (extract from the unpublished interview with R. Cavallini, Spring, 2005); republished in G. Paolini, Quattro passi. Nel museo senza muse (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2006). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Graz, Neue Galerie im Landesmuseum Joanneum (Ostfildern-Ruit: Cantz Verlag, 1998), col. repr. p. 324 (flipped horizontally). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Turin, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Turin: Hopefulmonster, 1999), col. repr. pp. 56-57 (exhibition view Siena 1998-99). |
| • | Arte povera in collezione, Rivoli,Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Milan: Edizioni Charta, 2000), catalogue entry by M. Disch p. 222, col. repr. p. 223. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Premio Internazionale Koinè 2000 alla carriera, exhibition catalogue, Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Palazzo Forti (Milan: Electa, 2001), col. repr. pp. 31-32 (exhibition view Siena 1998-99). |
| • | A. Del Guercio, Storia dell’arte moderna e contemporanea. Tempi, luoghi, linguaggi (Rome: Newton & Compton editori, 2003), col. repr. no. 35. |
| • | G. Paolini, Quattro passi. Nel museo senza muse (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2006), repr. p. 102. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 765 p. 777, col. repr. |
| • | Arte Povera in Moscow. Works from the collection of the Castello di Rivoli, exhibition catalogue, Moscow, Multimedia Art Museum, 2011, col. repr. pp. 14-15 (exhibition view Rivoli 2000-01). |
| • | Teatro di Mnemosine. Giulio Paolini d’après Watteau, exhibition catalogue, Lugano, Spazio -1 Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati (Bellinzona: Edizioni Casagrande, 2015), repr. p. 54. |
