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Nesso, 1977
GPO-0374
Nessus
Plaster cast, photo print, silk fabric, white plinth
Plinth 100 x 70 x 45 cm, overall height ca. 195 cm
The work was executed in a numbered edition of three plus one artist's proof.
| 1/3 | Private collection |
| 2/3 | Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam |
| 3/3 | SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco |
| A.P. | Glenstone Foundation, Potomac, Maryland |
| 2/3 | Acquired in 1980, inventory no. BA 3746(1-6) |
| 3/3 | Acquired in 1986, inventory no. 86.5. A-C |
The body of the centaur Nessus consists of a plaster cast for the lower part, and a photographic enlargement of a drawing of the Ercole Farnese, rolled up and tied to the cast by a wide strip of red cloth, for the upper part. The red cloth drops down to the floor along the sides of the plinth. The formal “link” (which is another meaning for the word “nesso” in Italian) between the two incongruous parts is at the same time a semantic “link” between the two antagonists from mythology – Heracles and Nessus – identified here in a single figure.1
"In this work I sought a dual synthesis, that is to say: between the two figures from mythology (Heracles’ head is placed atop the centaur’s body), but also between them and the red cloth (the blood-smeared shirt), which acts as a bond between two techniques that are characteristic of my work, photography and the plaster cast".2
1 According to Greek mythology, the centaur Nessus offered to ferry Deianira, who was married to Heracles (named Hercules in Roman mythology), across the River Euenos. After Nessus attempted to rape her during the crossing, Heracles struck him with a poisoned arrow. As he lay dying, Nessus left his blood-smeared tunic to Deianira, telling her she could use it as a potion to ensure that her husband would never again be unfaithful. But as soon as Heracles wore the tunic soaked in poisoned blood he was killed.
2 G. Paolini in conversation with Bruno Corà and Mario Merz, Nagoya, Aichi Arts Center, 15 November 1997 (public encounter on the occasion of the group show “Italian Art 1945-1995. The Visible and the Invisible", Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya, 1997; videotape, Physical Archive).
• Cast: Gaetano Monti, Cavallo arabo, 1819, bronze, 56.5 x 23 x 61.5 cm, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan.
• Photographic enlargement: Denis Diderot, Jean Baptiste Le Rond d’Alembert, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Recueil de planches sur les sciences, les arts libéraux et les arts méchaniques, avec leur explication. Seconde livraison, en deux parties. Seconde partie 24 (1763), plate XXXIII, fig. 1 (”Dessein. Proportions de l’Hercule Farnese”).
| 1978 | Naples, Museo Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes, Giulio Paolini, from 9 February, no catalogue; edition 1/3. |
| 1978-79 | Cologne, Galerie Paul Maenz, Giulio Paolini, 16 December 1978 - 16 January 1979. |
| 1979 | Turin, Galleria Christian Stein, Quodlibet. Fabro, Merz, Paolini, from 5 July; artist’s proof. |
| 1980 | Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Giulio Paolini, 10 April - 26 May, touring to: Oxford, The Museum of Modern Art, 8 June - 20 July, cited in the checklist of exhibited works and col. repr. p. 56, referred to in the text by H. Szeemann p. 3; edition 2/3. |
| 1982 | Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, ’60-’80: Attitudes / concepts / images, 9 April - 11 July, catalogue with two volumes, main volume: repr. p. 186, volume with exhibition views: repr. p. 62; edition 2/3. |
| 1984 | Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Der Traum des Orpheus. Mythologie in der italienischen Gegenwartskunst 1967 bis 1984, 16 May - 1 July, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 176, repr. pp. 76, 84 (exhibition view Naples 1978); artist’s proof. |
| 1985 | Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, The European Iceberg. Creativity in Germany and Italy Today, 8 February - 7 April, not repr. |
| 1986 | London, Hayward Gallery, Falls the Shadow. Recent British and European Art. 1986 Hayward Annual, 9 April - 15 June, col. repr. p. 93; artist’s proof. |
| 1986 | San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Second Sight: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Biennial IV, 12 September - 16 November, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 36 p. 60, col. repr. p. 47 and on cover; col. repr. also on the invitation to the “Media Preview”, and b/w repr. on the invitation to the “Collectors Forum); edition 3/3. |
| 1992 | Amsterdam, De Nieuwe Kerk, Het Beeld van de Eeuw. Von Rodin tot Jeff Koons / A Century in Sculpture. From Rodin to Jeff Koons, 19 June - 19 August, col. repr. p. 166; edition 2/3. |
| 1992-93 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, La collection Christian Stein. Un regard sur l’art italien, 24 June - 31 October, touring to: Toulouse, CRAC Centre Régional d’Art Contemporain Midi-Pyrénées, Labège-Innopole, 19 January - 28 March 1993, cited in the checklist of exhibited works and col. repr. p. 185, catalogue entry pp. 291-292 (with incorrect list of exhibitions); artist’s proof. |
| 1994-95 | Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, L’orizzonte: da Chagall a Picasso, da Pollock a Cragg. Capolavori dello Stedelijk Museum di Amsterdam, 18 December 1994 - 23 April 1995, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 148, col. repr. p. 119 (flipped horizontally); edition 2/3. |
| 1996 | San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Cast, Cut, Assemble: Contemporary Sculpture from the Permanent Collection, 7 March - 16 June, no catalogue; edition 3/3. |
| 1996-97 | Naples, Palazzo di Capodimonte, Prospettiva del passato. Da Van Gogh ai contemporanei nelle raccolte dello Stedelijk Museum di Amsterdam, 20 December 1996 - 6 April 1997, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 110, col. repr. p. 79; edition 2/3. |
| 1997-98 | Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Arte italiana 1945-1995. Il visibile e l’invisibile, 14 November 1997 - 15 January 1998, touring to: Tokyo, Museum of Contemporary Art, 1 February - 22 March 1998; Tottori, Yonago City Museum of Art, 23 April - 26 May 1998; Hiroshima, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, 15 June - 26 July 1998, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 58 p. 148, col. repr. p. 93; artist’s proof. |
| 1997-98 | Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Zielespiegel: bij wijze van catalogus, 6 December 1997 - 15 February 1998, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 140, col. repr. p. 66 (flipped horizontally); edition 2/3. |
| 2006 | Venice, Palazzo Grassi, Where Are We Going? Opere scelte dalla Collezione François Pinault, 30 April - 1 October, col. repr. p. 117; artist’s proof |
| • | Paul Maenz. Jahresbericht 1978 (Cologne: Galerie Paul Maenz, 1979), p. 31, repr. p. 30. |
| • | Flash Art 94-95 (Milan, Italian edition), January-February, 1980, col. repr. on cover. |
| • | P. Maenz, “10 Jahre Italien”, in Kunstforum International 39, monographic issue Italienische Kunst heute edited by M. Grüterich (Mainz), March, 1980, repr. p. 208 (exhibition view Cologne 1978). |
| • | A. van Grevenstein, “Stedelijk Museum. Giulio Paolini”, in Bulletin Stedelijk Museum 4 (Amsterdam), 1980, p. 52, repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Premio Bolaffi 1980 (Turin: Giulio Bolaffi Editore, 1980), repr. p. 24. |
| • | A. Dragone, “Le arti visive”, in Torino città viva da capitale a metropoli. 1880-1980 (Turin: Centro Studi Piemontese, 1980), repr. no. 189. |
| • | Paul Maenz Köln 1970-1980. Der Blick zurück ist ein Blick auf die Gegenwart und/oder Die Wahrheit hat viele Brüste (Cologne: Galerie Paul Maenz, 1981), repr. p. 26. |
| • | Luoghi del silenzio imparziale, exhibition catalogue [In labirinto], Milan, Palazzo della Permanente (Milan: Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, 1981), col. repr. n. pag. |
| • | Identité Italienne. L’art en Italie depuis 1959, edited by G. Celant (Paris-Florence: Centre Georges Pompidou and Centro Di, 1981), repr. p. 563. |
| • | H. Szeemann, “Dossier G.P.”, in Id., Museum der Obsessionen (Berlin: Merve Verlag, 1981), pp. 41-42, not repr.; taken from Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 1980; republished in Der Traum des Orpheus. Mythologie in der italienischen Gegenwartskunst 1967 bis 1984, exhibition catalogue, Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, 1984, p. 76, repr. |
| • | W.M. Faust, “Et quid amabo: Notizen zu Arbeiten von Giulio Paolini”, in Giulio Paolini. Del bello intelligibile, exhibition catalogue, Bielefeld, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, 1982, p. 16, repr. |
| • | L. Hegyi, Új szenzibilitás (Budapest: Magvtetó Kiadó, 1983), col. repr. on cover. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. La Casa di Lucrezio, exhibition catalogue, Spoleto, Palazzo Rosari Spada (Casalecchio di Reno: Grafis Edizioni, 1984), col. repr. p. 21 (detail). |
| • | 20 jaar verzamelen. Aanwinsten Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam 1963-1984. Schilderen beeldhouwerkunst / 20 years of art collecting. Acquisitions Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam 1963-84. Painting and sculpture, edited by J.M. Joosten (Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 1984), cat. no. 632 p. 267, repr. |
| • | Del Arte Povera a 1985, exhibition catalogue, Madrid, Palacio de Cristal, Palacio de Velázquez, Parque del Retiro, 1985, repr. n. pag. (detail). |
| • | Paolini. Melanconia ermetica, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Galerie Maeght Lelong, 1985, col. repr. p. 6 (flipped horizontally). |
| • | B. Paulino-Néto, “Giulio Paolini”, in Beaux-Arts Magazine 25 (Paris), June, 1985, col. repr. p. 38. |
| • | G. Celant, The Knot Arte Povera (Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 1985), col. repr. p. 154 (flipped horizontally); Italian edition: Arte Povera (Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 1989), col. repr. p. 160 and on cover (flipped horizontally); French edition: Arte Povera (Villeurbanne: Art Édition, 1989), col. repr. p. 168 (flipped horizontally). |
| • | Transformations in Sculpture. Four Decades of American and European Art, exhibition catalogue, New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, repr. no. 112 p. 172. |
| • | A. Del Guercio, Storia dell’arte presente. Europa e Stati Uniti dal 1945 a oggi (Rome: Editori Riuniti, 1985), repr. no. 45. |
| • | Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1986, vol. 2, col. repr. p. 31. |
| • | G. Paolini, Suspense. Breve storia del vuoto in tredici stanze (Florence: Hopeful Monster editore, 1988), repr. p. 112. |
| • | F. Poli, Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, 1990), col. repr. no. 91 (flipped horizontally). |
| • | T.F. Conti, “Giulio Paolini. Stacco permanente”, in Titolo 2, no. 4 (Perugia), Spring, 1991, repr. p. 8. |
| • | W.M. Faust, “Die Galerie als Erzählung”, in Paul Maenz Köln 1970-1980-1990. Eine Avantgarde-Galerie und die Kunst unserer Zeit / An Avant-Garde Gallery and the Art of Our Time, edited by G. de Vries (Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag, 1991), repr. p. 35. |
| • | La collection Christian Stein. Un regard sur l’art italien (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée and Art Édition, 1992), p. 82, col. repr. p. 185, catalogue entry pp. 291-292 (with incorrect list of exhibitions). |
| • | D. Waldman, Collage, Assemblage and the found Object (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1992), repr. cat. no. 371 p. 294. |
| • | Italiana. From Arte Povera to Transavanguardia, exhibition catalogue, Yokohama, Nicaf 3 (Milan: Fondazione Mudima Edizioni, 1994), col. repr. p. 198. |
| • | M. Bouisset, Arte Povera (Paris: Éditions du Regard, 1994), col. repr. p. 109. |
| • | Itinerario. Paolini, Bianchi, Rüdiger, exhibition catalogue, Riviera del Brenta, Mira, Villa Widmann, 1995, vol. Giulio Paolini, col. repr. n. pag. |
| • | Enciclopedia italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti. Appendice V (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana Treccani, 1995), col. repr. no. 3 on plate no. VI. |
| • | P. Le Thorel-Daviot, Petit dictionnaire des artistes contemporains (Paris: Bordas, 1996), col. repr. p. 196; (Paris: edition Larousse, 2004), col. repr. p. 231. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern / Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Graz, Neue Galerie im Landesmuseum Joanneum (Ostfildern-Ruit: Cantz Verlag, 1998), col. repr. p. 252. |
| • | L’ombra degli Dei. Mito Greco e Arte Contemporanea, exhibition catalogue, Bagheria, Villa Cattolica, Civica Galleria “Renato Guttuso” (Naples: Electa, 1998), col. repr. p. 161. |
| • | T. Wada, “Giulio Paolini. Artist Interview 1”, in BT Bijutsu Techo 50, no. 755 (Tokyo), May, 1998, col. repr. p. 193 (exhibition view Nagoya 1997-98). |
| • | M. Unterdörfer, Die Rezeption der Antike in der Postmoderne: der Gipsabguss in der italienischen Kunst der siebziger und achtziger Jahre (Weimar: VDG Verlag und Datenbank für Geisteswissenschaften, 1998), pp. 52, 68, 171, 180, cat. no. 33 p. 141, repr. no. 52 p. 232 (flipped horizontally). |
| • | D. Sung, “Arte per la vita”, in Case da abitare 48 (Turin), June, 2001, col. repr. p. 86 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin). |
| • | Castello di Rivoli 20 anni d’arte contemporanea (Rivoli-Milan: Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and Skira editore, 2005), col. repr. p. 226 (exhibition view Rivoli 1994-95). |
| • | B.H.D. Buchloh, in 30/40. A Selection of Forty Artists from Thirty Years of Exhibitions at Marian Goodman Gallery, exhibition catalogue, New York, Marian Goodman Gallery, 2007, pp. 88, 92, col. repr. p. 90. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 374 p. 379 (with incorrect inventory numbers of editions 2/3 and 3/3; "Eracle Farnese" instead of "Ercole Farnese"; missing indications about horizontally flipped images), col. repr. (flipped horizontally). |
| • | Collezione Christian Stein. Una storia dell'arte italiana / A History of Italian Art (Valencia-Lugano-Milan: IVAM Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Museo Cantonale d'Arte and Mondadori Electa, 2010), p. 82, col. repr. p. 105 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin), repr. p. 275 (exhibition views Turin 1979). |
| • | Arte povera 2011, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2011), col. repr. no. 321 (Turin 1979). |
| • | Stedelijk Collection Reflections (Amsterdam-Rotterdam: Stedelijk Museum and Nai010 publishers, 2012), col. repr. no. 4 p. 470 (installation view at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam). |
| • | Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Galleria Christian Stein, 2017, repr. p. 15 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin). |
| • | Giulio Paolini. A come Accademia, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca (Rome: Gangemi Editore, 2023), repr. pp. 157 (exhibition view Naples 1978), 167 (exhibition views Amsterdam 1980). |
| • | Paolo Pellion di Persano. La semplice storia di un fotografo / The simple story of a photographer, exhibition catalogue, Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2024), col. repr. p. 180 (exhibition view Rivoli 1994-95). |
Entry by Maddalena Disch, 07/05/2026
