La Doublure, 1972-73

La Doublure originates as a group of twenty-eight canvases, each of which has in the meantime had a different destination. While the canvases share the same front, they are distinguished on the back by a different handwritten inscription, taken each time from a statement made by the artist about one of his previous works, dated from 1960 to 1971.1
The dimensions of the canvases, inscribed in the proportional parameter of Disegno geometrico (1960, GPO-0001), range from 40 x 60 cm to 80 x 120 cm and 120 x 180 cm.2 The drawing on each of the canvases represents the image of the canvas itself seen in perspective, corroborated by the row of nails along the lower edge.3
In the artist's own words: “The title La Doublure alludes to the illusory appearances described by Raymond Roussel in his first book (La Doublure, 1897). The work consists of twenty-eight canvases (fourteen of these comprised in the exhibition Un quadro, 1970, cf. GPO-0204). Each canvas reproduces the perspectival fiction of itself and suggests virtual, emblematic space. On the back of each canvas I have transcribed fragments from interviews or descriptions of some of my previous works as if no painting had ever been translated, forever, into an object, beyond its pure intention”.4

1 The inscriptions are as follows: “un’immagine preesistente, anonima e neutra” (from a statement about Disegno geometrico, 1960, GPO-0001, in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini [New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972], p. 11, reprint [Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019, p. 11]) / “quello che è stato l’itinerario dell’opera” (from a comment about the artist's own works, in C. Lonzi, Autoritratto [Bari: De Donato, 1969], p. 378) / “il disegno preliminare di qualsiasi disegno” (from a commment about Disegno geometrico, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], p. 15) / “la stessa superficie aveva ‘già’ una sua vita” (from a statement about Disegno di una lettera, 1960, GPO-0004, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], p. 113 note 28) / “infinite figure di un altro linguaggio” (from a statement about Disegno di una lettera, ibid., p. 20) / “il soggetto ‘tela’ è visibile nel suo doppio” (from a comment about Senza titolo, 1963, GPO-0026, ibid., p. 25) / “come l’immagine dell’immagine” (from a statement about the paintings made in 1963, ibid., p. 30) / “l’orizzonte di luce delimitato dai due piani” (from a description of Orizzontale, 1963, GPO-0050) / “la figura dell’autore” (from a statement about the 1965 self-portraits, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], pp. 47-48) / “io non sono il quadro” (from the text "Una lettera sul tempo", in Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Turin, Galleria Notizie, 1968) / “ancora una volta il telaio, la tela” (from a statement about Capitemi!, 1966, GPO-0112, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], p. 54) / “un’immagine verosimile” (ibid.) / “a distanza reciproca uguale” (from a description of Lo spazio, 1967, GPO-0120) / “la tipica decorazione a foglia d’alloro” (from a description of Averroè, 1967, GPO-0138, in C. Lonzi, op. cit. [Bari: 1969], p. 304) / “la trascrizione infinita” (from "Una lettera sul tempo", op. cit. [Turin: 1968], p. 2) / “una prospettiva illusoria” (in reference to A J.L.B., 1965, GPO-0087, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], p. 70) / “affinché Flora stessa porga allo spettatore le sembianze in cui è stata rappresentata dal pittore” (from a description of Nel mezzo del dipinto Flora..., 1968, GPO-0150, in 2121969, exhibition catalogue Milan, Galleria De Nieubourg, 1969, n. pag.) / “la mano che Ingres attribuisce a Poussin” (from a note about Poussin, che indica..., 1968, GPO-0153, ibid.) / “copia eseguita sulla memoria dell’originale” (from a note about Mlle du Val d’Ognes, 1969, GPO-0182, in Giulio Paolini: Vedo, exhibition catalogue, Turin, Galleria Notizie, 1970) / “ogni tela riproduce l’immagine di se stessa” (from a note about Quattro immagini uguali, 1969, GPO-0194, ibid.) / “copia e simulacro di un fenomeno” (from a note about Elegia, 1969, GPO-0196, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], p. 84) / “un quadro, dipinto nel 1960” (from a note about Un quadro, 1970, GPO-0204, in Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Galleria dell’Ariete, 1971, n. pag.) / “nessuno può descrivere un quadro” (ibid.) / “un paradosso della metamorfosi” (from a comment about Un quadro, 1970, GPO-0204, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], p. 90) / “una domanda astratta” (from a statement about Apoteosi di Omero, 1970-71, GPO-0224, ibid., p. 96) / “le tracce visibili di queste ipotesi” (from the typescript belonging to Apoteosi di Omero, 1970-71, GPO-0224) / “ha significato l’assenza” (in reference to the Neoclassical style in the comment about Early Dynastic, 1971, GPO-0228, in the interview with M. Bandini in Prospects. Note d’arte contemporanea redatte da Luciano Inga-Pin no. 1 [Milan], March-April, 1972, n. pag; in the original text of the interview the locution "ha significato l'assenza" – quoted by Celant [op. cit. (New York: 1972), p. 97] – instead reads "è stato un po' l'assenza") / “una simmetria nominale, non naturale” (from a comment about Proteo (II), 1971, GPO-0226, in G. Celant, op. cit. [New York: 1972], p. 96).
2 The exact number of 40 x 60 cm and 80 x 120 cm canvases is unknown, as it was never annotated by the artist, and because the whereabouts of some of them are still unknown. The 120 x 180 cm format is attested to for just three editions.
3 The nails applied to the front of the canvases correspond to the pre-existing ones on the lower edge; hence, their number can vary even in canvases of the same size.
4 G. Paolini, Idem (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1975), p. 70, new edition (Milan: Electa, 2023), p. 96. Following this statement, on the same page, is the artist’s text La visione è simmetrica? written as a commentary on the works exhibited at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York in November 1972 and later reprinted on the invitation to the solo exhibition Giulio Paolini. La Doublure, Rome, L’Attico, February 1973.