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1421965, 1965
GPO-0076
Photo print mounted on wooden panel
200 x 150 cm
Signed, titled, and dated on the verso, upper left: “Giulio Paolini / 1421965 / 1965”
Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, Paris
Acquired in 1997, inventory no. AM 1997-11
1421965 reproduces a mise-en-scène in which the photographer in the foreground (Franco Aschieri) takes a picture of the artist as he shifts a large blank canvas in his studio. The title refers to a specific date (14 February 1965) which, however, corresponds to nothing at all: the painter didn’t make a painting, and the photographer didn’t take a picture, which was shot with a self-timer.
“In this work", Paolini explained in 1983, "I wanted to make perceivable not the surface that the painter yields to time, that is, the painting he is working on, but the mere possibility of a painting’s becoming. Reproducing on the surface of the painting the painter himself as he looks at another painting means, so to speak, bearing witness to the moment in which the painting comes true. From this point of view, the painting in question, that is, the one before the painter, needs no longer be the vehicle of an image, as it is involved in the contextual vision of the moment preceding its own identity, its own definition. […] The painting is captured in its original moment, told in the immediate and futurable condition of its fate as image”.1
Together with the use of photography, the introduction of the figure of the artist and of his relationship with the work is the main theme in Paolini’s 1965 output. "Photography lets me dilate the language all the way to including in my exploration the gestures and figure of the artist",2 as does the context of the artist's studio, the theatre of the potential occurrence of a painting in the making, which appears here for the first time.
1 G. Paolini, Giulio Paolini, vol. Images/Index (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée, 1984), p. 18.
2 G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), p. 52 (revised translation, republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant [Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003], p. 148), reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019), p. 52.
Portrait of Giulio Paolini in his studio taken by Francesco Aschieri with a self-timer, 1965.
| 1976 | Parma, Palazzo della Pilotta, Sala delle Scuderie, Giulio Paolini, 11 March - 21 April, repr. no. 55, referred to in the text by M. Fagiolo p. 27. |
| 1984 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Giulio Paolini, 20 January - 18 March, vol. Images/Index, repr. p. 19. |
| 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 in Villeurbanne 1984. |
| 1986 | Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Giulio Paolini, 15 February - 30 March, same catalogue as for the solo exhibition in Villeurbanne 1984. |
| 1987 | Turin, Galleria Giorgio Persano, Paolini, Pistoletto, Zorio, from 23 January. |
| 1988 | Milan, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Presi per incantamento: la nuova fotografia internazionale, 8 June - 18 July, not repr. |
| 1992-93 | Muenster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Das offene Bild. Aspekte der Moderne in Europa nach 1945, 15 November 1992 - 7 February 1993, touring to: Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, 8 April - 31 May 1993, repr. p. 175. |
| 2011 | Paris, Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Nouvelle présentation des collections contemporaines des années 1960 à nos jours, from 6 April, no catalogue. |
| 2014 | London, Whitechapel Gallery, Giulio Paolini. To Be or Not to Be, 9 July - 14 September, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 155, repr. p. 105, catalogue entry by M. Disch p. 104, referred to in the texts by G. Guercio pp. 62-63, I. Bernardi p. 91. |
| 2016 | Paris, Musée national d’art moderne - Centre Pompidou, Un Art Pauvre, 8 June - 28 August, no catalogue. |
| 2022 | Nice, MAMAC Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Vita Nuova. Nouveaux enjeux de l’art en Italie 1960-1975, 14 May - 2 October, repr. p. 114, referred to in the text by V. Da Costa pp. 22-23. |
| 2022-23 | Paris, Jeu de Paume and LE BAL, Renverser ses yeux. Autour de l’arte povera 1960-1975: photographie, film, vidéo, 11 October 2022 - 29 January 2023, touring to: Milan, Triennale Milano, 17 May - 3 September, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 391, repr. p. 85, referred to in the text by G. Sergio pp. 331, 336, 338; exhibited in Paris only. |
| • | G. Paolini, “Note di lavoro”, in NAC 3 (Milan), March, 1973, p. 10; republished in Id., Idem (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1975), p. 42, new edition (Milan: Electa, 2023), p. 68. |
| • | G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 47-48; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 148; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | G. Paolini in Giulio Paolini, vol. Images/Index (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée, 1984), p. 18; republished in Giulio Paolini. La voce del pittore – Scritti e interviste 1965-1995, edited by M. Disch (Lugano: ADV Publishing House, 1995), pp. 63-64. |
| • | Arte povera più azioni povere, exhibition catalogue, Amalfi, Arsenali dell’Antica Repubblica (Salerno: Marcello Rumma Editore, 1969), repr. p. [28]. |
| • | C. Lonzi, Autoritratto (Bari: De Donato Editore, 1969), repr. no. 14 p. 55 (caption p. 397, with incorrect title); German edition: Selbstbildnis/Autoritratto. Zur Situation der italienischen Kunst um 1967 (Bern-Berlin: Verlag Gachnang & Springer, 2000), repr. no. 14 p. 53 (caption p. 328, with incorrect title); new Italian edition: (Milan: Et al./Edizioni, 2010), repr. no. 14 p. 41 (correct caption p. 307); English edition: Self-portrait (Brussels-London: Divided Publishing, 2021), repr. p. 54; new Italian edition: (Milan: La Tartaruga, 2024), repr. no. 12 p. 61 (caption p. 403, with incorrect title). |
| • | G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), p. 50, repr. no. 41 p. 48; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by Id. (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 152; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | T. Trini, “Giulio Paolini, un decennio. Parte prima: Il vero e il visibile”, in Data 3, no. 7-8, (Milan), Summer, 1973, p. 61, not repr.; republished in Tommaso Trini. Mezzo secolo di arte intera. Scritti 1964-2014, edited by L. Cerizza (Milan: Johan & Levi Editore, 2016), p. 105, not repr.). |
| • | I. Calvino, “La squadratura”, in G. Paolini, Idem (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1975), pp. IX-X, repr. p. 20; republished in Semiotiche della pittura. I classici. Le ricerche, edited by L. Corrain (Rome: Meltemi editore, 2004), pp. 228, 230, not repr.; new edition (Milan: Electa, 2023), pp. 11-12, repr. p. 46. |
| • | G. Paolini, Suspense. Breve storia del vuoto in tredici stanze (Florence: Hopeful Monster editore, 1988), repr. p. 23. |
| • | F. Poli, “Note di lettura”, in Id., Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), pp. 31-32, 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. 51, not repr. |
| • | F. Pasini, “Giulio Paolini. Una mostra lunga un anno”, in Flash Art 184 (Milan, Italian edition), May, 1994, repr. p. 26. |
| • | R. Deidier, “La lingua della visione: Calvino e Giulio Paolini”, in Id., Le forme del tempo. Saggio su Italo Calvino (Milan: Guerini Studio, 1995), p. 156, repr. no. 7; republished in Id., Le forme del tempo. Miti, fiabe, immagini di Italo Calvino (Palermo: Sellerio editore, 2004), p. 133, repr. no. 7. |
| • | 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), pp. 104-105, not repr. |
| • | A. Zevi, Peripezie del dopoguerra nell’arte italiana (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1995), pp. 288-289, not repr. |
| • | S. Bann, “Giulio Paolini”, in Rewriting Conceptual Art, edited by M. Newman and J. Bird (London: Reaktion Books, 1999), p. 179, not repr. |
| • | M. Dalla Bernardina, “Les autoportraits de Giulio Paolini”, in Ligeia 29-32 (Paris), October 1999 - June 2000, p. 6, not repr. |
| • | A. Madesani, “Camere in prestito: breve percorso della fotografia utilizzata dagli artisti italiani nel corso degli anni Settanta”, in Rubare l’immagine. Gli artisti e la fotografia negli anni ’70, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Spazio Labs (Milan: Edizioni Tega, 2000), p. 9, not repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, op. cit. (Milan: 2003), repr. p. 153. |
| • | D. Semin, “Fabro ou l’élégance: savoir se tenir à la table de l’histoire”, in Luciano Fabro. Convivio, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Musée Bourdelle (Paris: Éditions des musées de la Ville de Paris, 2004), p. 22, repr. p. 25. |
| • | V. Goudinoux, “De Fluxus à l’Arte Povera en passant par la Belgique”, in L’Art du XXe siècle. De l’art moderne à l’art contemporain 1939-2002 (Paris: Éditions Citadelles & Mazenod, 2005), repr. no. 274 p. 271. |
| • | Collection Art Contemporain (Paris: Éditions du Centre Pompidou, 2007), catalogue entry by J. Lageira p. 348, repr. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 76 p. 106, repr. |
| • | R. Ferrario, Giulio Paolini. Un viaggio a distanza (Busto Arsizio: Nomos Edizioni, 2009), pp. 42, 46, repr. p. 45. |
| • | A. Portesio, “’Quello che per il pittore è la squadratura della tela, per lo scrittore è l’incipit’. L’arte di Giulio Paolini raccontata da Italo Calvino. Con un’intervista a Giulio Paolini”, in Avanguardia 14, no. 40 (Rome), June, 2009, p. 81, repr. p. 86. |
| • | G. Celant, Arte Povera. Storia e storie (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2011), p. 56; text taken from Id., Giulio Paolini, op. cit. (New York: 1972), repr. |
| • | F. Pola, “Media immateriali per materializzare il tutto. Fotografia e film nell'Arte Povera”, in Arte povera 2011, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2011), p. 603, not repr. |
| • | G. Sergio, “Art is the Copy of Art. Italian Photography in and after Arte Povera”, in Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph 1964-1977, exhibition catalogue, Chicago, The Art Institute, 2011, p. 165, repr. |
| • | E. Volpato, “Iconografie della malinconia”, in Collezioni. Volume terzo: Allestimento 2011-2013, edited by D. Eccher (Turin: GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea and Umberto Allemandi & C., 2012), p. 211, not repr. |
| • | T. Migliore, “Ritratti ‘portratti’. Giulio Paolini e l’identikit dell’artista”, in L’immagine che siamo. Ritratto e soggettività nell’estetica contemporanea, edited by M.G. Di Monte, M. Di Monte, and H. de Riedmatten (Rome: Carocci editore, 2014), pp. 128, 130, repr. |
| • | “Hypothesis for an Exhibition”, exhibition catalogue, New York, Dominique Lévy Gallery, 2014, repr. p. 88. |
| • | J. Meinhardt, Giulio Paolini. Senza titolo, 1961. In collezione 3 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2015), pp. 52, 74, repr. p. 81. |
| • | G. Sergio, Information Document Œuvre. Parcours de la photographie en Italie dans les années Soixante et Soixante-dix (Paris: Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest, 2015), pp. 81-83, repr. p. 82 and on cover. |
| • | F. Pola, “L’immagine mediata”, in Imagine. Nuove immagini nell’arte italiana 1960-1969, exhibition catalogue, Venice, Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice: Marsilio Editori, 2016), p. 195, not repr. |
| • | D. Viva, “La storia in abisso. Letteratura, fotografia e passato”, in S. Bann et al., Il passato al presente. In tema 2 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2016), p. 60, repr. p. 59. |
| • | D. Semin, Arte Povera (Paris: Centre Pompidou, 2016), repr. p. 55. |
| • | L. Iamurri, Un margine che sfugge. Carla Lonzi e l’arte in Italia 1955-1970 (Macerata: Quodlibet, 2016), p. 155, not repr. |
| • | L. Vecere, In assenza. Appunti sull’autoritratto contemporaneo (Pisa: University Press, 2017), p. 72, repr. |
| • | I. Bernardi, Giulio Paolini. Opere su carta: un laboratorio gestuale per la percezione dell’immagine (Turin: Prinp Editore, 2017), pp. 110-111, 187, repr. p. 189. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Del Bello ideale, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Fondazione Carriero (London: Koenig Books, 2019), repr. vol. 2 p. 7. |
| • | M. Disch, “The Author, the Work and the Viewer: The ‘Performative’ Dimension in Giulio Paolini’s Work”, in Entrare nell’opera. Processes and Performative Attitudes in Arte Povera, exhibition catalogue, Vaduz, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2019), p. 192, not repr.; in the German edition published in 2021 p. 83, not repr. |
| • | C. Zambianchi, “L’’incerto esito’: note sul fotografico in Giulio Paolini e Giuseppe Penone”, in Lo specchio delle notizie differenti. Memoria, fotografia, arti visive. Studi per Marina Miraglia, edited by M.F. Bonetti, F. Faeta and M. Maffioli (Rome: Campisano Editore, [2021]), pp. 212-213, not repr. |
| • | Paolini. I Grandi illustrati del Corriere della Sera. Arte contemporanea – I protagonisti 8, edited by F. Gualdoni (Milan: RCS MediaGroup S.p.a., 2022), repr. p. 10. |
| • | L. Corrain, “Un dialogo fra il Beato Angelico e Giulio Paolini”, in Actes Sémiotiques 127 (Limoges), biannual online journal, 14 July 2022, p. 35, repr. p. 36. |
| • | P. Repetto, “Oltre il visibile”, in Giulio Paolini. O.D.E., exhibition catalogue, Monforte d’Alba (Cuneo), Castello di Perno (Alba: Fondazione Mancini Carini, 2022), p. 36, not repr. |
| • | A. Soldaini, “‘Cos’altro c’è da dire?’”, in Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), p. 37, repr., col. repr. pp. 180-81 (exhibition view Montreal 1985). |
Entry by Maddalena Disch, 28/02/2025
