Senza titolo (Théogonie), 1982
GPE-0040
Untitled (Théogonie)
Lithograph
Velin Arches
30.5 x 30.5 cm
Signed and dated on the recto, bottom right: “Giulio Paolini 1982”
Autograph numbering on the recto, bottom left
150 in Arabic numerals from 1/150 to 150/150
15 H.C. in Roman numerals from H.C. I/XV to H.C. XV/XV
Philip Morris EEC Region, Lausanne
Mourlot et Cathelineau, Paris
The print is part of a graphic portfolio commissioned from the artists Carel Balth, Marc Camille Chaimovicz, Giulio Paolini, Hervé Télémaque, Jean Verame, Isolde Wawrin, and Iannis Xenakis. The aim of the portfolio was to promote art as a means of international communication, as well as being an essential component of the patron's creative activity.
Originally, the print was contained, along with six other prints, in a grey cloth-covered box, 32 x 32 x 1.5 cm; cover with the Philip Morris logo printed in gold at the top left. Contains the prints collected in a white sleeve and a bi-folio with an introductory note by Aleardo G. Buzzi (first side, in English), short anonymous texts introducing the artists, and a reproduction of their respective works (second and third side, in six languages), acknowledgements and colophon (fourth side, along with the translation of the text by Buzzi in five languages, acknowledgements in six languages, colophon in French).
Includes information regarding printers, type of paper, and date of printing (December 1982).
• Introductory note by Aleardo G. Buzzi (President of Philip Morris European Economic Community), about communication, the theme of the portfolio.
• Biographical notes about the artists, accompanied by reproductions of the respective works contained in the portfolio.
The nineteenth-century drawing reproduces John Flaxman's vision of Hesiod, printed in negative, with two portions of the image missing so as to emphasize the visual cones of the two figures. The cut-out part at the top left, which includes the face of the seated female figure, is turned 180 degrees in the visual field of the reclining male figure. In the perimetral blank margin of the sheet, the coloured lines prolong the rays that define the visual cones of the two figures.
The highlighting of the visual act, joined with the reference to the theogony of Hesiod, which tells of the genesis and the genealogy of the Greek gods, alludes to the impossibility of using one's gaze to touch an absolute dimension, evoked via the polychrome lines Or: no gaze succeeds in enclosing Hesiod's vision in one's visual field.
The print harkens back to the painting titled Théogonie, 1982 (GPO-0480) and to two Studi per “Théogonie” (GPC-0633, GPC-2174), both of which made in 1982 (cf. also the variants from 2024, GPC-2359, GPC-2360).
John Flaxman, Compositions from the Works and Days and Theogony of Hesiod, engraved by William Blake (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1817).
| 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. 41). |
| 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. 41). |
| 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. 41). |
| 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. 41). |
| 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. 41). |
| • | Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 41, repr. (artist’s proof). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 480 p. 492, not repr. |
