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Disegno di una lettera, 1960
GPO-0004
Drawing of a letter
Tempera and ink on canvas
40 x 30 cm
Signed, dated, and titled on the verso, lower centre: “Giulio Paolini / 1960 / Disegno di / una lettera”
Paul Maenz Collection, Berlin
From 1993 to 2005 on loan at Neues Museum, Weimar
The first letter of the alphabet is drawn in black ink with a ruling pen on a canvas painted with white tempera.
“I was interested in having the letter A alight on a typically pictorial surface, precisely so as to indicate that that same surface 'already' had a life of its own”, remarked the artist in 1972. “As if to say that the canvas is not just a space for intrinsic elements, but for the endless figures of another language as well, whose primary, emblematic image is the letter A".1
1 G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 21-22, 113 endnote 28 (revised translation, republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant [Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003], pp. 96, 432 endnote 28), reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019), pp. 21-22, 113 endnote 28.
| 1976 | Parma, Palazzo della Pilotta, Sala delle Scuderie, Giulio Paolini, 11 March - 21 April, repr. no. 1. |
| 1977 | Mannheim, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Giulio Paolini, 31 July - 28 August, not repr. |
| 1986 | Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Giulio Paolini, 20 September - 2 November, cited in the checklist of exhibited works vol. 4 no. 2 p. 51, repr. vol. 1 pp. 20, 34, referred to in the text by G. Inboden vol. 1 p. 20. |
| 1989 | Cologne, Rheinhallen der Kölner Messe, Bilderstreit. Widerspruch, Einheit und Fragment in der Kunst seit 1960, 8 April - 28 June, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 535 p. 526, repr. p. 281. |
| 1999 | Weimar, Neues Museum, Auffrischender Wind aus wechselnden Richtungen. Internationale Avantgarde seit 1960: Die Sammlung Paul Maenz, 1 January - 31 December, repr. no. 73 p. 112, catalogue entry by H. Dickel, col. repr. p. 321 (exhibition view, visible on the right). |
| 2003 | Amiens, Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain de Picardie, Dessins de la Collection Paul Maenz, Neues Museum Weimar, 17 October - 13 December, repr. p. 78. |
| • | G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 20, 113 endnote 28; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), pp. 96, 432 endnote 28; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | G. Celant, “Crónica de Italia. Giulio Paolini y Piero Dorazio”, in Forma nueva el inmueble 14 (Madrid), March, p. 63, not repr.; republished as “Prima della ‘pittura’, Giulio Paolini”, in Marcatrè 30-33 (Milan), July, 1967, p. 269, not repr., and later in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by Id. (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 204. |
| • | G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 17-20, repr. no. 2 p. 19; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, op. cit. (Milan: 2003), pp. 78, 88, 96; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | T. Trini, “Giulio Paolini”, in Art press 4 (Paris), May-June, 1973, p. 14, not repr. |
| • | M. Bandini, “Giulio Paolini: un itinerario critico”, in Giulio Paolini. “Tutto qui”, exhibition catalogue, Ravenna, Pinacoteca Comunale, Loggetta Lombardesca (Ravenna: Agenzia Editoriale Essegi, 1985), p. 156, not repr.; republished in Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1986, vol. 3, p. 8. |
| • | F. Poli, “Note di lettura”, in Id., Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), p. 24, repr. no. 4; 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. 37, 39, not repr. |
| • | Memoria del futuro. Arte Italiano desde las primeras vanguardias a la posguerra, exhibition catalogue, Madrid, Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Milan: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, 1990), repr. p. 178. |
| • | M. Disch, “Giulio Paolini. Hors-d’œuvre”, in Giulio Paolini. La voce del pittore – Scritti e interviste 1965-1995, edited by Id. (Lugano: ADV Publishing House, 1995), p. 90, repr. no. 13. |
| • | R. Lambarelli, “Giulio Paolini”, in Contemporary Artists. Fourth Edition, edited by J. Cerrito (Detroit: St. James Press, 1996), p. 891, not repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, op. cit., repr. p. 192. |
| • | Die Sammlung Paul Maenz Neues Museum Weimar. Band I: Objekte, Bilder, Installationen (Weimar-Ostfildern-Ruit: Neues Museum and Hatje Cantz Verlag, 1999), cat. no. 73 repr. p. 112, entry by H. Dickel, repr. p. 321 (exhibition view Weimar 1999). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Turin, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Turin: Hopefulmonster, 1999), col. repr. p. 68 (exhibition view Weimar 1999). |
| • | N. Bätzner, Arte Povera. Zwischen Erinnerung und Ereignis: Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jannis Kounellis (Nuremberg: Verlag für moderne Kunst, 2000), pp. 57, 59, repr. p. 56. |
| • | M. Belpoliti, “L’Io esposto, ovvero: tutte le esposizioni di Io”, in Giulio Paolini. Premio Internazionale Koinè 2000 alla carriera, exhibition catalogue, Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Palazzo Forti (Milan: Electa, 2001), p. 20, not repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, op. cit. (Milan: 2003), repr. p. 39. |
| • | A. Zevi, Peripezie del dopoguerra nell’arte italiana (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2005), p. 287, not repr. |
| • | G. Di Genova, Storia dell’Arte Italiana del ‘900 per generazioni. Generazione Anni Quaranta, vol. 6.1 (Bologna: Edizioni Bora, 2007), p. 11, not repr. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 4 p. 51, repr. |
| • | G. Celant, “1960-2000”, in “Hypothesis for an Exhibition”, edited by B. Yasar, exhibition catalogue, New York, Dominique Lévy, 2014, p. 15, repr. p. 32. |
| • | R. Cuomo, Giulio Paolini. Lo spazio, 1967. In collezione 4 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2016), p. 68, col. repr. p. 66. |
| • | F. Belloni, Giulio Paolini. Disegno geometrico, 1960. In collezione 6 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2019), p. 42, col. repr. p. 43. |
| • | F. Fergonzi, Una nuova superficie. Jasper Johns e gli artisti italiani 1958-1966 (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2019), pp. 174-175, col. repr. p. 174. |
Entry by Maddalena Disch, 10/01/2025
