QRcode
Quattro immagini uguali, 1969
GPO-0194
Four Identical Images
Pencil on primed canvas
Four parts 40 x 40 cm each, overall dimensions site-specific
Signed, titled, and dated on the verso of the fourth canvas, upper stretcher bar, centre: "Giulio Paolini / Quattro immagini uguali 1969"
Private collection, Rome
The work should be installed in a separate room with a square plan (min 6 - max 10 metres per side), with accesses at either end of the wall (not in the middle of the wall). Each of the four canvases must be installed in the middle of a wall, so as to mirror each other (i.e. in axis in twos).
Four identical primed canvases, mounted at the centre of each of the four sides of a space, reproduce the way they themselves are displayed: each canvas features a portrayal of itself with respect to the others.
“The four canvases are none other than a vehicle used to announce just as many others, and so on, to subtract from the presence of the canvas its physical quality and use it as an opening onto the infinite nature of the phenomenon of seeing”,1 Paolini explains.
The work was reproduced in 1970 in a version with larger canvases, now lost (GPO-0202). Since there are no photographs of the first version, it has hitherto been documented by a picture taken by Ugo Mulas that, in fact, illustrates the installation of the second version.
1 G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), p. 85 (revised translation, republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant [Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003], p. 282), reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019), p. 85.
| 1970 | Rome, QUI arte contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Vedo, 20 January - 7 February, cited in the checklist of exhibited works, not repr. |
| 1970 | Turin, Galleria Notizie, Giulio Paolini. Vedo, 18 February - 20 March, cited in the checklist of exhibited works, repr. |
| 1973 | Milan, Studio Marconi, Paolini: opere 1961/73, from 15 November, not repr. |
| 1976 | Bologna, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Europa America. L’astrazione determinata 1960/1976, 23 May - September, repr. n. pag. (version made in 1970). |
| • | G. Paolini in Giulio Paolini. Vedo, exhibition catalogue, Turin, Galleria Notizie, 1970; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by Id. (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 283. |
| • | G. Paolini in G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), p. 84; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, op. cit. (Milan: 2003), p. 282; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 83-84, repr. no. 77 p. 81 (version made in 1970); republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by Id. (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 282; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | N. Orengo, "Giulio Paolini. Dipingere la pittura", in Fuoricampo 1, no. 2 (Turin), June, 1973, p. 4, repr. pp. 6-7 (version made in 1970, rotated by 180 degrees). |
| • | T. Trini, “Giulio Paolini, un decennio. Parte prima: Il vero e il visibile”, in Data 3, no. 7-8, (Milan), Summer, 1973, p. 67, repr. p. 63; republished in Tommaso Trini. Mezzo secolo di arte intera. Scritti 1964-2014, edited by L. Cerizza (Milan: Johan & Levi Editore, 2016), p. 107, not repr.). |
| • | G. Paolini, Idem (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 1975), repr. p. 39 (version made in 1970); new edition (Milan: Electa, 2023), repr. p. 65 (version made in 1970). |
| • | M. Fagiolo, "Glossario", in Giulio Paolini (Parma: Università di Parma, Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione, 1976), p. 16, repr. no. 110 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Atto unico in tre quadri, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Studio Marconi (Milan: Gabriele Mazzotta editore, 1979), repr. p. 77 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 1980, repr. p. 22 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Premio Bolaffi 1980 (Turin: Giulio Bolaffi Editore, 1980), repr. pp. 10-11 (version made in 1970). |
| • | C. Ferrari, "Giulio Paolini", in Luoghi del silenzio imparziale, exhibition catalogue [In labirinto], Milan, Palazzo della Permanente (Milan: Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, 1981), p. 110, repr. p. 112 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Identité Italienne. L’art en Italie depuis 1959, edited by G. Celant (Paris-Florence: Centre Georges Pompidou and Centro Di, 1981), p. 320, repr. (detail). |
| • | E. Franz, "Del bello intelligibile – Die geistige Schönheit", in Giulio Paolini. Del bello intelligibile, exhibition catalogue, Bielefeld, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 1982, p. 4, repr. (version made in 1970); republished in Pratiques. Réflexions sur l’Art 2 (Rennes), Autumn, 1996, p. 35, not repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini, vol. Images/Index (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée, 1984), repr. p. 65 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Il modo italiano, vol. 1, exhibition catalogue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, 1984, repr. p. 122 (version made in 1970). |
| • | G. Celant, Arte Povera. Storie e protagonisti / Art Povera. Histories and protagonists (Milan: Electa, 1985), repr. p. 151 (detail); idem in the reprint included in G. Celant, Arte Povera. Storia e storie (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2011). |
| • | G. Paolini, Suspense. Breve storia del vuoto in tredici stanze (Florence: Hopeful Monster editore, 1988), repr. p. 189 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Storie dell’occhio 1. Fotografi ed eventi artistici in Italia dal ’60 all’‘80, exhibition catalogue, Modena, Galleria Civica, Palazzina dei Giardini Pubblici (Modena: Edizioni Cooptip, 1988), repr. nos. 21-22 pp. 44-45 (version made in 1970). |
| • | F. Poli, "Note di lettura", in Id., Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), p. 26, 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. 41. |
| • | G. de Marchis, Scusi ma è arte questa? Guida illustrata all’avanguardia e alla neoavanguardia (Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1991), p. 279, repr. p. 358 (version made in 1970, erroneously dated "1968"). |
| • | A. Zevi, "Giulio Paolini: Le repliche del naufragio / The replicas of the shipwreck", in L’Architettura 37, no. 433 (Rome), November, 1991, repr. p. 908 (version made in 1970). |
| • | 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. 160, repr. no. 11 (version made in 1970); republished in Id., Le forme del tempo. Miti, fiabe, immagini di Italo Calvino (Palermo: Sellerio editore, 2004), p. 136, repr. no. 11 (version made in 1970). |
| • | M. Fagiolo Dell’Arco, "Giulio Paolini, ‘Villa Medici 1331996’", in Giulio Paolini. Correspondances, exhibition catalogue, Rome, French Academy, Villa Medici (Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 1996), p. 30, repr. p. 29 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, op. cit. (Ostfildern-Ruit: 1998), repr. p. 232 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Arte italiana. Ultimi quarant’anni. Pittura aniconica, exhibition catalogue, Bologna, Galleria d’Arte Moderna (Milan: Skira editore, 1998), repr. no. 83 p. 117 (version made in 1970). |
| • | R. Lachat, L’Art en Italie 1945-1995 (Paris: Nouvelles éditions françaises, 1999), p. 145, not repr. |
| • | A. Rorimer, New Art in the 60s and 70s. Redefining Reality (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001), p. 67, repr. (version made in 1970). |
| • | Arte moderna. L’arte contemporanea dal secondo dopoguerra ad oggi, vol. 37 (Milan: Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori, 2001), p. 316, not repr. |
| • | M. Disch, "Le sette stanze dell’esposizione. L’opera al vero", in Giulio Paolini. Premio Internazionale Koinè 2000 alla carriera, exhibition catalogue, Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Palazzo Forti (Milan: Electa, 2001), p. 30, repr. p. 33 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, op. cit. (Milan: 2003), repr. pp. 282 (version made in 1970), 283. |
| • | R. Lumley, Arte Povera (London: Tate Publishing, 2004), p. 29, repr. no. 16 (exhibition view Bologna 1976). |
| • | A. Zevi, Peripezie del dopoguerra nell’arte italiana (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2005), p. 335, not repr. |
| • | "L’immagine in/possibile", in L’immagine in/possibile. Attorno alla fotografia negli anni settanta, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Fondazione Zappettini, 2006, repr. p. 51 (version made in 1970). |
| • | F. Poli, La scultura del Novecento (Bari: Editori Laterza, 2006), repr. no. 127 p. 178 (version made in 1970). |
| • | G. Paolini, Quattro passi. Nel museo senza muse (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2006), repr. p. 23 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Ugo Mulas. La scena dell’arte, exhibition catalogue, Rome, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2007), repr. pp. 480-483 (version made in 1970, with details). |
| • | G. Di Genova, Storia dell’Arte Italiana del ‘900 per generazioni. Generazione Anni Quaranta, vol. 6.1 (Bologna: Edizioni Bora, 2007), pp. 12, 15, repr. no. 6 p. 15 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Risonanze #2. Giulio Paolini & Fabio Vacchi, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Spazio Risonanze, Auditorium Parco della Musica (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2008), repr. p. 23 (version made in 1970). |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 194 pp. 206-207, repr. (version made in 1970). |
| • | G. Celant, Arte Povera. Storia e storie (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2011), p. 60, text taken from the author’s 1972 monograph on Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press), repr. p. 61 (version made in 1970). |
| • | D. Viva, "Verso la meta pittura. Quadro e autoritratto a Rome negli anni Settanta", in Anni 70. Arte a Roma, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome: Iacobelli Editore, 2013), p. 56, repr. p. 55 (version made in 1970). |
| • | B. Yasar, "‘Hypothesis for an Exhibition’", in "Hypothesis for an Exhibition", exhibition catalogue, New York, Dominique Lévy Gallery, 2014, pp. 37, 51, repr. pp. 50 (version made in 1970), 90 (reproduction of the four single canvases). |
| • | Brera in contemporaneo. Fabro, Garutti, Kounellis, Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan: Johan & Levi editore, 2015), repr. p. 217 (version made in 1970). |
| • | D. Viva, "La finzione dell’esordio: Sandro Chia alla Galleria La Salita, Roma 1971", in Studi di Memofonte 21 (Florence), , biannual online journal, 2018, p. 92, repr. p. 94 (version made in 1970). |
| • | Renverser ses yeux. Autour de l’arte povera 1960-1975: photographie, film, vidéo, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Jeu de Paume and LE BAL (Paris: Atelier EXB, 2022), repr. p. 288 (version made in 1970). |
| • | 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. 38, not repr. |
| • | F. Poli, “Giulio Paolini. La vertigine ironica della visione”, ibid., pp. 57-58. |
| • | A. Soldaini, G. Paolini, “In dialogo”, in Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), p. 93, repr. pp. 141, 142 (exhibition views Milan 1973, detail). |
| • | F. Poli, L’ironia è una cosa seria. Strategie dell’arte d’avanguardia e contemporanea (Monza: Johan & Levi editore, 2024), p. 173, not repr. |
Entry by Maddalena Disch, 28/02/2025
