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The Encyclopaedia Britannica (fourteenth edition, vol. 12), 1971
GPE-0008
The Encyclopaedia Britannica (fourteenth edition, vol. 12)
56.5 x 48 cm
Titled, signed and dated on the recto: “The Encyclopaedia Britannica / (fourteenth edition, vol. 12.)” (below the printed text), “Giulio Paolini [date variable]” (bottom right)
Autograph numbering on the recto, bottom left
Unlimited edition in Arabic numerals from 1/∞
Self-produced by the artist
The lithograph reproduces the English definition of the noun "infinity", from the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
In analogy with the linguistic concept that is reproduced, the artist imagined an unlimited edition size: the number of copies is followed by the symbol for infinity (∞), and the date, begun in 1971, extends indefinitely in time (hence, the different dates for the various copies, signed and dated over the years).
The attempt to give a concrete expression to an abstract concept, to measure an incommensurable dimension and by definition an endless one – even though it is attested to in the authoritative encyclopaedia entry – the work continues the examination of the limits and the enigmas of language carried out by Paolini especially between the 1960s and 1970s.
Citation from The Encyclopaedia Britannica 12, fourteenth edition, The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company (London, New York, 1929).
| 1973 | Zurich, Galerie Annemarie Verna, Giulio Paolini, 10 October - 30 November; two copies. |
| 1974 | Naples, Modern Art Agency, Giulio Paolini. Idem (III), from 26 January; one copy. |
| 1974 | Bari, Galleria Bonomo, Giulio Paolini. Idem (IV), from 12 October; one copy. |
| 1975 | Munich, Galerie Art in Progress, Giulio Paolini, 18 April - 21 May. |
| 1976 | Parma, Palazzo della Pilotta, Sala delle Scuderie, Giulio Paolini, 11 March - 21 April, repr. no. 133, referred to in the text by M. Fagiolo p. 32. |
| 1977 | Mannheim, Mannheim Kunstverein, Giulio Paolini, 31 July - 28 August, not repr.; one copy. |
| 1979 | Bochum, Museum Bochum, Words – Gebrauch der Sprache in der Kunst während des letzten Jahrzehntes, 27 January - 11 March, touring to: Genoa, Palazzo Ducale (L’uso del linguaggio nell’arte dell’ultimo decennio), 28 March - 4 May, repr. n. pag., with note by the artist L’infinito, definito...; edition 1/1971. |
| 1984 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Giulio Paolini, 20 January - 18 March, vol. Images/Index, repr. p. 43, with note by the artist L’infinito, definito...; edition 1/1971. |
| 1985 | Ravenna, Pinacoteca Comunale, Loggetta Lombardesca, Giulio Paolini. Tutto qui, 15 June - 22 September, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 21 p. 118, repr. no. 21, with note by the artist L’infinito, definito... |
| 1985-86 | Montreal, Musée d’art contemporain, Giulio Paolini, 7 July - 8 September, touring to: Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery, 29 November 1985 - 19 January 1986, same catalogue as for the solo exhibition at Villeurbanne 1984; edition 1/1971. |
| 1986 | Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Giulio Paolini, 15 February - 30 March, same catalogue as for the solo exhibition at Villeurbanne 1984; edition 1/1971. |
| 1986 | Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Giulio Paolini, 20 September - 2 November, vol. 4 La visione / Die Vision, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 42 p. 53, not repr.; edition 1/1971. |
| 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. 8); 22 copies dated from 1971 to 1992. |
| 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. 8); 22 copies dated from 1971 to 1992. |
| 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. 8); 22 copies dated from 1971 to 1992. |
| 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. 8); 22 copies dated from 1971 to 1992. |
| 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. 8); 22 copies dated from 1971 to 1992. |
| 1999-01 | New York, Queens Museum of Art, Global Conceptualism: Points of Origin 1950s-1980s, 28 April - 29 August, touring to: Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, 19 December 1999 - 5 March 2000; Miami, Miami Art Museum, 23 June - 27 August 2000; Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT List Visual Arts Center, 24 October - 31 December 2000; Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery, 27 January - 23 April 2001, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 268, not repr. |
| 2001 | Milan, Association Jacqueline Vodoz et Bruno Danese, Impressions Graphiques. L’opera grafica di Giulio Paolini, 1967-2000, 17 May - 22 June, not repr.; twelve copies. |
| 2002 | Paris, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Impressions graphiques. L’œuvre graphique de Giulio Paolini 1967-2000, 23 April - 21 May, no catalogue. |
| 2003 | Milan, Fondazione Prada, Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, 30 October - 18 December, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 404, repr. p. 349; six copies. |
| 2006 | Turin, Galleria “èArte”, Paolini, Penone, Pistoletto, 7 February - 18 March. |
| 2006 | Lugano, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, L'immagine del vuoto. Una linea di ricerca nell'arte in Italia 1958-2006, 7 October 2006 - 7 January 2007, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 279, repr. no. 48 pp. 204-205; edition 64. |
| 2009 | Venice, Palazzo Fortuny, In-finitum, 6 June - 15 November, not repr. |
| 2010-11 | Torre Pellice, Tucci Russo Studio d’Arte Contemporanea, Basico. Moto perpetuo, 10 October 2010 - 11 February 2011; editions 121/1975, 212/1986, 224/1997. |
| 2016 | Turin, Norma Mangione, Studio Salvo, Francesco Barocco / Giulio Paolini, 24 September - 29 November, no catalogue; editions 107/1974, 149/1978, 226/1999, 227/2000, 234/2007, [1 copy with numbering and date unknown]. |
| 2022 | Paris, Librairie Marian Goodman, Giulio Paolini. Printed Editions and Multiples (1967-1977), 6 October - 26 November; edition 51/1972. |
| • | G. Paolini, “L’infinito, definito...”, in Id., Idem (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1975), p. 64; republished in Giulio Paolini, vol. Images/Index (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée, 1984), p. 43, in Italian; Giulio Paolini. Tutto qui, exhibition catalogue, Ravenna, Pinacoteca Comunale, Loggetta Lombardesca (Ravenna: Agenzia Editoriale Essegi, 1985), n. pag.; Id., Voix off (Brussels: Édition Lebeer-Hossmann, 1986), p. 32, in French; Impressions graphiques. L'opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 8; new edition of G. Paolini, Idem (Milan: Electa, 2023), p. 90. |
| • | G. Paolini in the interview with C. Grenier, “Giulio Paolini”, in Flash Art 3 (Milan, French edition), Spring, 1984, p. 41, in French; republished in G. Paolini, Voix off, op. cit. (Brussels: 1986), p. 32, in French; Giulio Paolini. La voce del pittore – Scritti e interviste 1965-1995, edited by M. Disch (Lugano: ADV Publishing House, 1995), p. 190, in Italian. |
| • | G. Brizio, “Parallelismo di linguaggi nelle odierne comunicazioni visive”, in Quinta parete 5 (Turin), Winter, 1972-73, p. 51, repr. p. 50. |
| • | G. Paolini, Idem (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1975), p. 64 (statement by the artist L’infinito, definito...), repr. (edition 1/1971), new edition (Milan: Electa, 2023), p. 90 (statement by the artist L’infinito, definito...), repr. (edition 1/1971). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Werke und Schriften 1960-1980, exhibition catalogue, Lucerne, Kunstmuseum Luzern, 1981, repr. n. pag. (edition 1/1971). |
| • | G. Paolini, Voix off (Brussels: Édition Lebeer-Hossmann, 1986), p. 32 (statement by the artist L’infini, défini...), repr. p. 33. |
| • | F. Poli, “Note di lettura”, in Id., Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), p. 28, 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), p. 45, not repr. |
| • | Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 8, repr. (edition 1/1971), with statement by the artist L’infinito, definito.... |
| • | T. Godfrey, Concept Art (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1998), p. 133, repr. no. 84 p. 132. |
Entry by Bettina Della Casa and Maddalena Disch, 10/01/2025
