Una poesia, 1967
GPE-0002
A Poem
Silkscreen on primed canvas
25 x 20 cm
Signed, titled, and dated on the verso in a variable position: on the canvas, centre: “Giulio Paolini / Una poesia / 1967”, or on the upper stretcher bar: “Giulio Paolini / Una poesia 1967”
Autograph numbering on the verso in a variable position: on the canvas, centre, or on the stretcher bar, top or bottom
50 in Arabic numerals from 1/50 to 50/50
12 artist’s proofs in Arabic numerals from 1/12 (p.a.) to 12/12 (p.a.)
Each edition is distinguished by the way the nine colours alternate and succeed one another.
Ippolito Simonis, Turin
The graphic edition was produced by Ippolito Simonis, a literature and art enthusiast connected to the circle of Luciano Pistoi, and one of the first collectors of Paolini's works. In the early months of 1967 Simonis opened a bookshop, the Libreria Stampatori – named after the street where it was located – which soon became the haunt of intellectuals; graphic editions were presented on the library mezzanine.
Havana corrugated cardboard folder with flaps, closed format 25.5 x 20.5 x 2 cm; cover with reproduction of the artist's signature, title inscribed in a circle in the manner of a stamp, with the imprint date (”MAR 1967”) at the centre of the circle.
The nine letters that make up the title of the multiple are printed on a primed canvas at regular intervals, in nine different colours. Each copy of the print run presents a different colour combination for the letters.
From its first application, in Paolini's work writing does not mean communicating; rather, it tends to become the image of itself and thus a drawing. The letters that mark the surface of the canvas recall the equidistant points of a drawn pattern; the reading path retraces the rhythm of a spatial metric.
The polychrome spelling of the expression “una poesia” (a poem) also alludes to a dimension that is intimately linked to art and the imagination: a dimension that can only be invoked or evoked via language (with regard to art and poetry, see also works from the same period such as La libertà (H.R.), 1967, GPO-0126, and Saffo, 1968, GPO-0144).
The multiple is part of a group of variations on the same theme with the same title, developed from 1966 to 1972 (cf. among the paintings GPO-0107, GPO-0108, GPO-0109, GPC-0080, and among the works on paper GPC-0113, GPC-0114, GPC-0115, GPC-0230); the same theme can also be found in a print produced in 2002 (GPE-0106). For the approach to writing via the arrangement of individual letters see the large-scale works from the same period titled Qui, Dove, and Lo spazio (cf. GPO-0116, GPO-0117, GPO-0120).
| 1967 | Turin, Teatro Stabile, Proposte 1, 2 March, no catalogue. |
| 1967 | Turin, Libreria Stampatori, Giulio Paolini. Una poesia, 2-9 March. |
| 1967 | Venice, Galleria del Leone, Giulio Paolini, from 7 August, cited in the checklist of exhibited works n. pag., not repr. |
| 1967 | Genoa, Università di Genova, Istituto di Storia dell’Arte, Collage 1, 13-21 December, no catalogue. |
| 1976 | Parma, Palazzo della Pilotta, Sala delle Scuderie, Giulio Paolini, 11 March - 21 April, repr. no. 66. |
| 1982 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Giulio Paolini. Une introduction à l’œuvre de Giulio Paolini 1960/70. Artiste invité de l'année, 16 September - 31 October, no catalogue. |
| 1989 | Milan, Le Case d’Arte, Giulio Paolini, [unknown dates]. |
| 1992 | Bonn, Bonner Kunstverein, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Werk 1967-1992, 24 February - 29 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 2). |
| 1993 | Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das druckgraphische Werk 1967-1992, 16 January - 7 March (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 2). |
| 1995 | Lisbon, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian / Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Múltiplos e Obra Gráfica 1969-1995, 16 March - 28 May, not repr. in the exhibition brochure (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 2). |
| 1996 | Nice, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Arte Povera. Les multiples, 23 March - 16 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 37, not repr. |
| 1996 | Apolda, Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques, 27 September - 27 October (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 2). |
| 1997 | Göppingen, Kunsthalle, Giulio Paolini. Impressions graphiques. Das graphische Druckwerk 1967-1995, 9 March - 13 April (catalogue Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini [Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992], cat. no. 2). |
| 2001 | New York, Esso Gallery, Multipli 1967-2001. Multiples, editions and books by the Arte Povera Artists, 16 January - 3 March. |
| 2001 | Milan, Association Jacqueline Vodoz et Bruno Danese, Impressions Graphiques. L’opera grafica di Giulio Paolini, 1967-2000, 17 May - 22 June, not repr. |
| 2003 | Milan, Fondazione Prada, Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, 30 October - 18 December, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 401, col. repr. p. 255. |
| 2007-08 | La Spezia, CAMeC Centro d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Esposizione dalle raccolte permanenti, 8 December 2007 - 24 March 2008, no catalogue; edition 41/50. |
| 2008 | Turin, Giorgio Maffei, Arte Povera. Libri d’artista, multipli, fotografie, 14-23 December. |
| 2017 | La Spezia, CAMeC Cento d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Small size. Piccoli capolavori dalle collezioni del CAMeC, 7 July - 5 November, cited in the checklist of exhibited works n. pag, not repr.; edition 41/50. |
| 2018-19 | Turin, Mastio della Cittadella, 100% Italia. Cent’anni di capolavori, 21 September 2018 - 10 February 2019, col. repr. p. 608. |
| 2018-19 | Milan, Fondazione Carriero, Giulio Paolini. Del Bello ideale, 26 October 2018 - 26 February 2019, vol. La mostra, col. repr. pp. 136-137 (exhibition view), 158, referred to in the texts by L. Skrebowski p. 89, F. Stocchi p. 103; artist’s proof 3/12. |
| 2022 | Paris, Librairie Marian Goodman, Giulio Paolini. Printed Editions and Multiples (1967-1977), 6 October - 26 November; artist’s proof 3/12. |
| 2024 | Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Carla Accardi, 6 March - 9 June; unnumbered edition. |
| • | G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), p. 60, repr. no. 54 p. 56; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | G. Paolini, Idem (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1975), repr. p. 23, new edition (Milan: Electa, 2023), repr. p. 49. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Werke und Schriften 1960-1980 (Lucerne: Kunstmuseum Luzern, 1981), repr. n. pag. |
| • | Giulio Paolini, vol. Images/Index (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée, 1984), repr. p. 40. |
| • | Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 2, col. repr. |
| • | R. Deidier, Le forme del tempo. Saggio su Italo Calvino (Milan: Guerini Studio, 1995), p. 149, repr. no. 3; republished in Id., Le forme del tempo. Miti, fiabe, immagini di Italo Calvino (Palermo: Sellerio editore, 2004), p. 152, repr. no. 3. |
| • | F. Poli, “Note di lettura”, in Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), p. 40, not repr.; republished in Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Graz, Neue Galerie im Landesmuseum Joanneum (Ostfildern-Ruit: Cantz Verlag, 1998), pp. 65, 67, not repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini 1960-72, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 250, col. repr. p. 255. |
| • | E. Volpato, ”Metamorfosi del vuoto: 1960-2006” in L’immagine del vuoto. Una linea di ricerca nell’arte in Italia 1958-2006, exhibition catalogue, Lugano, Museo Cantonale d’Arte (Milan: Skira editore, 2006), p. 77, repr. p. 15. |
| • | La parola nell’arte. Ricerche d’avanguardia nel ‘900. Dal futurismo a oggi attraverso le collezioni del Mart, exhibition catalogue, Rovereto, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto (Milan: Skira editore, 2007), col. repr. p. 37. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 108 p. 134, no. 180 p. 196, not repr. |
| • | G.L. Marcone, “Parole nel vuoto?” in Titolo 4, n.s., no. 8 (Perugia), Summer-Autumn, 2014, p. 4, repr. |
| • | Ennesima. Una mostra di sette mostre sull’arte italiana, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Triennale (Milan: Mousse Publishing, 2015), vol. 2: L’immagine della scrittura: Gruppo 70, poesia visuale e ricerche verbo-visive, col. repr. p. 10. |
| • | R. Cuomo, Giulio Paolini. Lo spazio, 1967. In collezione 4 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2016), p. 66, not repr. |
| • | L. Iamurri, Giulio Paolini. Teresa nella parte di Giovanna d’Arco in prigione (tavola ottica), 1969. In collezione 5 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2018), p. 46, not repr. |
| • | E. Fiorin, “Introduzione” in Colophon 55 (Belluno), March, 2021, p. 5, not repr. |
