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Fallit Imago (Lo sguardo irriducibile), 1985

GPO-0540

Fallit Imago (The Irreducible Gaze

Pencil, red pencil and collage on paper

Nine framed parts 70 x 100 cm each, overall dimensions 215 x 305 cm

Camerino Collection

The diagonals that determine the drawing of a room seen in perspective define the visual field of the central figure, and, at the same time, they square, in red pencil, the area of the rectangle at the centre of the rear wall. With one arm extended, the author-actor just touches the extension of "his" ideal painting as if he wanted to measure the depth of field of his own gaze, dimmed by a swirling kaleidoscope of reproductions of previous works by the artist. His gaze, always in search of an image is irreducible and does not surrender, although he is aware of the deceit implicit in the images, as the title tells us.

Figure from Antonio Sandre, Il costume nei tempi (Turin: Scuola Taglio Moderno, 1961), p. 268, fig. 299 (”Da ‘Minister’s Gazette of fashions’, 1925-30”), with the transformation of the original jacket into a tailcoat.

1985 Paris, Galerie Maeght Lelong, Giulio Paolini. Melanconia ermetica, 14 May - 29 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 11 p. 32, not repr.
M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 540 p. 551, col. repr.
J. Meinhardt, “Vedere ed essere visti. Giulio Paolini e lo sguardo”, in E. Franz et al., Giulio Paolini. Vedo e non vedo. In tema 1 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2014), p. 104, col. repr. p. 103.
Entry by Maddalena Disch, 30/06/2026