Eco e Narciso, 1980-81
GPO-0447
Echo and Narcissus
Primed canvas, torn photo print, pencil on stretcher
187 x 112 cm
Signed, titled, and dated on the verso, upper stretcher bar, right: “Giulio Paolini / Eco e Narciso 1980-81”
Private collection, Florence
A stretcher is placed in a tilted position on a primed canvas, so as to look as though it is being held down by the left hand, drawn on the stretcher, of Lorenzo Bartolini's Narcissus, reproduced in its actual size in the photograph stretched across the canvas and torn at the bottom (the torn fragments are held down by the stretcher).
In the photograph Paolini emphasized the name of the nymph Echo on the memorial stone – written in Greek in the Neoclassical sculpture – transcribing it in Roman letters. The association of the two figures refers to the ancient mythological legend of the nymph Echo and the handsome Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water, and fell to his death.
The work harkens back to another one with the same title from 1978, based, however, on a wholly different formal interpretation (cf. GPO-0376).
Lorenzo Bartolini, Narciso, first half of the 19th century, plaster, h 184 cm, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence; reproduction from Lorenzo Bartolini, exhibition catalogue, Prato, Palazzo Pretorio (Florence: Centro Di, 1978), p. 68.
| 1982 | Turin, Galleria Christian Stein, Anselmo, Barbera, Dibbets, Fabro, Kounellis, Merz, Paolini, Parmiggiani, Penone, Zorio, December. |
| 1986 | New York, Marian Goodman Gallery, A Drawing Show, 4 January - 1 February. |
| 1987 | New York, Marian Goodman Gallery, Group Show, 7 April - 4 May. |
| 1991 | Milan, Galleria Christian Stein, Anselmo, Bianchi, Kounellis, Merz, Paolini, Salvadori, from 1 July. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. La Casa di Lucrezio, exhibition catalogue, Spoleto, Palazzo Rosari Spada (Casalecchio di Reno: Grafis Edizioni, 1984), repr. p. 22. |
| • | C. Carena, R. Pagliero, G. Fornaca, “Vivere in villa”, in Casa Vogue 177 (Milan), September, 1986, col. repr. p. 314 (installation view at the home of a private collector). |
| • | G. Paolini, Suspense. Breve storia del vuoto in tredici stanze (Florence: Hopeful Monster editore, 1988), repr. p. 88. |
| • | La collection Christian Stein. Un regard sur l’art italien (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée and Art Édition, 1992), repr. p. 184, catalogue entry p. 293 (with incorrect dimensions). |
| • | D. Sung, “Arte per la vita”, in Case da abitare 48 (Turin), June, 2001, col. repr. p. 85 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 447 p. 457, repr. |
| • | Collezione Christian Stein. Una storia dell'arte italiana / A History of Italian Art (Valencia-Lugano-Milan: IVAM Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Museo Cantonale d'Arte and Mondadori Electa, 2010), col. repr. pp. 104-105 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin). |
| • | Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Galleria Christian Stein, 2017, repr. p. 15 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin). |
