Ritratto dell’artista come modello, 1980
GPE-0037
Portrait of the Artist as a Model
Lithograph
Five plates 70 x 50 cm each
Signed and dated on the colophon of the portfolio: “Giulio Paolini / 1980”
Autograph numbering on the colophon of the portfolio
100 in Arabic numerals from 1/100 to 100/100
30 in Roman numerals from I/XXX to XXX/XXX
Ugo Ferranti, Rome, and Yvon Lambert, Paris
Fabrizio Pozzilli, Rome, Fotolito Eliseo, Rome, Tipolitografia di Fernando Begliomini, Rome
The portfolio was produced by the art dealers Ugo Ferranti, Rome, and Yvon Lambert, Paris, on the occasion of the solo show Giulio Paolini. Ritratto dell’artista come modello, which opened on 18 November 1980 at the Galleria Ferranti, Rome. Since 1975 Lambert and Ferranti have collaborated on several occasions, especially as concerns artists represented by both art dealers.
Double-sided three-flap grey full-cloth folder with elastic fastener, blank, closed format 70 x 51 cm. Contains the title-page, the five plates, and the colophon.
Includes information regarding the printer, edition size, date of printing (November 1980), publisher; in Italian, French, and English. Numbering, signature, and date bottom centre.
The five plates, framed individually without a passepartout, must be placed at short intervals from each other and horizontally (overall dimensions around 71 x 265 cm). The order they are in is predetermined: in the first one the central square is white, in the second one it is against a gold background, in the third one a figure is outlined on it, the fourth one is on black paper, the last one features the drawing of a room in perspective.
The five plates are a photographic reproduction of Praxiteles' Hermes, set against a black background, half-concealed by a white surface or by a copy of the same figure.
In the first plate, the photograph of the classical sculpture is associated with a white surface so that it seems to be held by the figure, gazing at something that lies beyond our sight. In the second plate, the sculpture is evoked in negative via the white shape against a golden background overlapping the photograph. In the third plate, on the contrary, the photograph offsets the drawn profile of Hermes seen from behind, so that the two figures look at each other and at the same time observe the white surface that divides them. In the fourth plate, with the black background, the protagonist holds before himself a reduced copy of the Hermes and Dionysus. In the last plate, which reconnects to the first one, the white surface overlapping the photograph of Hermes bears the drawing of a room seen in perspective, which continues onto the background.
As the title tells us, the figure of Hermes intent on observing the "painting" he holds before him is a stand-in for the author, but at the same time, as it is the emblem of ideal perfection, it is also the model par excellence that the author pursues endlessly. In the artist's own words: “Two faces in one, the artist is his model: by dint of pursuing his ideal model, the artist comes to resemble it".1
The portfolio goes back to the theme of the large-scale work made for the solo exhibition with the same title held at the Galleria Ugo Ferranti in Rome, the occasion when the portfolio was produced (GPO-0433).
The original collages on which the portfolio is based are documented in the online Catalogue Raisonné of the works on paper at numbers GPC-0543, GPC-0544, GPC-0545, GPC-0546 and GPC-0547.
1 G. Paolini in conversation with M. Disch (2004), in M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 433 p. 444.
Praxiteles, Hermes and the Infant Dionysos, 350-330 BC, marble, h 215 cm, Archaeological Museum, Olympia.
| 1980 | Rome, Galleria Ugo Ferranti, Giulio Paolini. Ritratto dell’artista come modello, from 18 November. |
| 1984 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Giulio Paolini, 20 January - 18 March, not repr. |
| 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 Villeurbanne 1984. |
| 1986 | Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Giulio Paolini, 15 February - 30 March, same catalogue as for the solo exhibition Villeurbanne 1984. |
| 1986 | Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Giulio Paolini, 20 September - 2 November, vol. 4 La visione / Die Vision, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 45 p. 53, not repr. |
| 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. 37). |
| 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. 37). |
| 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. 37). |
| 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. 37). |
| 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. 37). |
| 1997-2000 | Bremen, Neues Museum Weserburg, Arte Povera. Arbeiten und Dokumente aus der Sammlung Goetz 1958 bis heute, 22 June - 7 September, touring to: Nuremberg, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, 2 October - 7 December 1997; Cologne, Kölnischer Kunstverein, 14 February - 26 April 1998; Vienna; Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, 19 June - 30 August 1998; Göteborg (Sweden), Konsthallen, 19 September - 22 November 1998; Munich, Sammlung Goetz (Teil 1: Arbeiten von 1958-1972), 23 July - 18 December 1999; Munich, Sammlung Goetz (Teil 2: Arbeiten von 1973 bis heute), 24 January - 20 May 2000, in the book published at the occasion of the exhibition, Arte Povera. Arbeiten und Dokumente aus der Sammlung Goetz 1958 bis heute (Munich: Kunstverlag Ingvild Goetz, 1997), catalogue entry p. 236 (with incorrect technique “serigrafia”), col. repr. p. 236; edition 28/100; exhibited in all the venues except Munich 1999. |
| 1999 | London, Lisson Gallery, Giulio Paolini. Stanze, 16 April - 22 May. |
| 2000-01 | Bologna, Studio G7, Giulio Paolini. Opere Grafiche, 16 December 2000 - 20 January 2001. |
| 2001 | Milan, Association Jacqueline Vodoz et Bruno Danese, Impressions Graphiques. L’opera grafica di Giulio Paolini, 1967-2000, 17 May - 22 June, not repr. |
| 2001 | Lugano, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Oggi per domani. Cinque artisti contemporanei nella Collezione BSI, 19 May - 2 September, not repr. |
| 2008 | Gifu, The Museum of Fine Arts, Taguchi Collection I: Contemporary Art, 11 March - 11 May, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 63, repr. p. 46 (fifth plate). |
| 2010 | Lissone, Museo d’arte contemporanea, Milan, Rotonda di via Besana and Bergamo, Galleria d’arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Il grande gioco. Forme d'arte in Italia 1947-1989, 24 February - 9 May, not repr; exhibited only in Bergamo. |
| 2016 | Turin, Norma Mangione, Studio Salvo, Francesco Barocco / Giulio Paolini, 24 September - 29 November, no catalogue. |
| 2016-17 | New York, CIMA Center for Italian Modern Art, Giorgio de Chirico / Giulio Paolini – Giulio Paolini / Giorgio de Chirico, 14 October 2016 - 24 June 2017, col. repr. p. 32; edition VII/XXX. |
| 2019 | Avignon, Collection Lambert, Francesco Vezzoli. Le Lacrime Dei Poeti, 2 March - 10 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 154, col. repr. pp. 93-95. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Werke und Schriften 1960-1980 (Lucerne: Kunstmuseum Luzern, 1981), repr. n. pag. (first, third, fourth and fifth plate). |
| • | EOS 2 (Tokyo), February-March, 1983, repr. p. 29. |
| • | G. Paolini, Suspense. Breve storia del vuoto in tredici stanze (Florence: Hopeful Monster editore, 1988), repr. p. 134 (first plate). |
| • | Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 37, repr. |
| • | Arte Povera. Arbeiten und Dokumente aus der Sammlung Goetz 1958 bis heute (Munich: Kunstverlag Ingvild Goetz, 1997), p. 236 (cited in the list of works from the collection), col. repr. (edition 28/100). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 433 p. 444, not repr. |
| • | Arte Povera. Der grosse Aufbruch, exhibition catalogue, Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel (Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2012), p. 16, col. repr. no. 72 p. 133 (third plate, edition 28/100). |
| • | M. Faraoni, “Intervista a Yvon Lambert”, in Archivio Ugo Ferranti. Roma 1974-1985 , exhibition catalogue, Rome, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (Rome: Quodlibet Edizioni, 2022), p. 107. |
