La pittura abbandonata, 1985
GPE-0053
Painting Abandoned
Lithograph and original pencil drawing by the artist
50 x 67 cm
Titled, signed, and dated on the recto, along the sides of the rectangle outlined in pencil in a variable position and in variable order: “La pittura abbandonata”, “Giulio Paolini”, “7 dicembre 1985”
Autograph numbering on the recto, along the sides of a rectangle outlined in pencil, in a variable position
70 in Arabic numerals from 1/70 to 70/70
From one edition to another the number and position of the rectangles outlined in pencil vary, in any case in a way that makes it seem like they are being held by the Arianna abbandonata. Moreover, the date inscribed by the artist varies from "7 December" to "5 December".
Galleria Marilena Bonomo, Bari
The print was produced by the Galleria Marilena Bonomo, Bari – founded by Marilena Bonomo in December 1971 – on the occasion of the solo exhibition Giulio Paolini. La pittura abbandonata, inaugurated on 7 December 1985. The same subject was used for the exhibition poster.
On the shores of Lake Nemi – transformed into a palette thanks to the oval cut-out to the left evoking its finger hole – lies the reclining and upside-down figure of Sleeping Ariadne. One or more rectangles outlined in pencil – their numbers vary among the copies of the print run – as if they were held down by the figure, recall a painting "abandoned".
The title combines the well-known Greek myth of Ariadne, betrayed by Theseus while sleeping, with the idea based on which each new work is none other than an umpteenth attempt consumed or abandoned – amidst endless others still to come – to capture that ungraspable model that each and every time the author is determined to give a shape and form to.
The iconographic theme recalls that of the large-scale work with the same title (GPO-0507), the protagonist of the 1985 solo show at the Galleria Marilena Bonomo, Bari, on the occasion of which the print was made.
• Landscape: Fratelli Alinari, Nemi – Prov. di Roma. Panorama del Lago e della piccola borgata di Genzano, c. 1890, albumen silver print, 21 x 27 cm, Archivi Alinari, Florence (ACA-F-006861-0000).
• Figure: Sleeping Ariadne, 1st-2nd century AD Roman copy of a Hellenistic original, marble, 161 cm, Musei Vaticani, Rome; reproduction from Francis Haskell, Nicholas Penny, Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982), p. 185, fig. 96 (“Cleopatra”).
| 1986 | Oslo, Kunstnernes Hus, Fra usikkerhet til samlet Kraft..., 26 April - 8 June, in the main catalogue: not repr.; in the monographic volume Giulio Paolini. La pittura abbandonata: repr. n. pag. |
| 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. 54). |
| 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. 54). |
| 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. 54). |
| 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. 54). |
| 1996-97 | Frankfurt, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Have a good drawing! Die Sammlung Michael Loulakis, 1 December 1996 - 6 January 1997, touring to: Modena, Palazzina dei Giardini, 26 January - 1 April 1997, cited in the checklist of exhibited works cat. no. 328 p. 187, not repr.; edition 5/70. |
| 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. 54). |
| • | Impressions graphiques. L’opera grafica 1967-1992 di Giulio Paolini (Turin: Marco Noire Editore, 1992), cat. no. 54, col. repr. (edition 36/70), with text by the artist Consentitemi allora.... |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 2 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 561 p. 571, no. 662 p. 678, not repr. |
