Autoritratto, 1970

Archive number

GPO-0201

English title

Self-Portrait

Technique

Pencil on photo canvas

Dimensions

40 x 80 cm (two parts 40 x 40 cm each)

Inscriptions by the artist

Signed, titled, and dated on the verso of the second canvas, upper stretcher bar, centre: "Giulio Paolini / Autoritratto 1970"

Collection

Private collection

Description

Two photographic canvases placed close together reproduce a portrait of the artist, taken by Anna Piva, as though they were a reflection of each other. On the double photograph, in the area corresponding to the white sheet, Paolini wrote the title of the work by hand in pencil, so that the inscription seems to mark the verso of the sheet, identifying it as a self-portrait and at the same time as the work itself.

Sources

Portrait of Giulio Paolini taken by Anna Piva, 1970.

Exhibitions

2003	Milan, Fondazione Prada, Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, 29 October - 18 December, op. cit. p. 403, repr. p. 297.
2016-17	New York, Center for Italian Modern Art, Giorgio de Chirico – Giulio Paolini / Giulio Paolini – Giorgio de Chirico, 14 October 2016 - 24 June 2017, col. repr. p. 31.
2018-19	Milan, Fondazione Carriero, Giulio Paolini. Del bello ideale, 26 October 2018 - 10 February 2019, col. repr. vol. 1 pp. 120-121, 124-125 (exhibition views), 165.
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. 389, col. repr. pp. 28-29.

Artist’ writings

•	G. Paolini in the interview with A. Soldaini, “In dialogo”, in Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), p. 92.

Bibliography

•	W. M. Faust, "Et quid amabo: Notizen zu Arbeiten von Giulio Paolini", in Giulio Paolini. Del bello intelligibile, exhibition catalogue, Bielefeld, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 1982, pp. 14-15, repr. p. 15.
•	C. Marra, Fotografia e pittura nel Novecento. Una storia "senza combattimento" (Milan: Edizioni Bruno Mondadori, 1999), p. 198, repr. no. 58 p. XXXI.
•	M. Dalla Bernardina, "Les autoportraits de Giulio Paolini", in Ligeia 29-32 (Paris), October 1999 - June 2000, p. 8, not repr.
•	M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 201 p. 212, repr.
•	R. Perna, In forma di fotografia. Ricerche artistiche in Italia dal 1960 al 1970 (Rome: Derive Approdi, 2009), p. 90, not repr. (repr. of the eponymous print, no. 37).
•	R. Zucconi, "Arte e design da collezione", in Elle Decor Italia (Milan), November, 2010, col. repr. p. 225 (installation view at the home of a private collector).
•	B. Pietromarchi, Italia in opera (Turin: Bollati Boringhieri editore, 2011), repr. p. 20.
•	Arte povera 2011, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2011), repr. no. 314 p. 387.
•	G. Celant, Arte Povera, supplement to the monthly Art e Dossier 284 (Florence), January, 2012, p. 6, repr. p. 30.
•	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. 129, 131, not repr.
•	E. Longari, "Specchi doppi e riflessi", Anni Settanta. La rivoluzione nei linguaggi dell’arte, edited by C. Casero and E. Di Raddo (Milan: Postmedia Books, 2015), p. 110, repr. (with incorrect caption referred to the print with the same title).
•	L. Violo, "Giulio Paolini. Siamo tutti comparse", in Wannenes art magazine 6, no. 2 (Genoa), October, 2016, col. repr. p. 27.
•	F. Cafagna, “Giulio Paolini on Giorgio de Chirico”, in The Brooklyn Rail (New York), May, 2017, repr. p. 12.
•	L. Vecere, In assenza. Appunti sull’autoritratto contemporaneo (Pisa: University Press, 2017), pp. 81-82, repr. p. 81.
•	A. Soldaini, G. Paolini, “In dialogo”, in Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), pp. 91-92, repr. p. 91.

Entry by Maddalena Disch, 27/02/2025