Saffo, 1981
GPO-0439
Sappho
Photo prints mounted between plexiglas shapes, plexiglas stand and plinth
Photo prints and plexiglas stand 76 x 160 x 20 cm, base 60 x 160 x 40 cm, overall dimensions 136 x 160 x 40 cm
The Olnick Spanu Collection, New York
The two photographs mounted back to back between two plexiglas shapes – held in a base made of the same material – are a copy of the Liegende Sappho (1797-1802) by Johann Heinrich Dannecker, enlarged so that it is life-size with respect to the figure. The smaller photographs, applied in the area corresponding to the arms as though they were held by the reclining figure, recall two other Sapphos: the collage next to the left arm, made up of two sheets that are slightly staggered, presents the negative printed image of an antique head, with a caption, while the photograph inserted in the right arm reproduces the Saffo abbandonata (1857) by Giovanni Dupré.1
Through the figure of Sappho, the Greek poet who lived between the 7th and the 6th centuries BC, Paolini aims to summon to the context of the art exhibition "the explicit presence of poetry (or of its myth, of Alcaeus' ‘Tenth Muse’) in the place dedicated to it”.1
This work is the fourth and last variant of the Sappho theme, begun in 1968 (cf. GPO-0144, GPO-0160, GPO-0163).
1 The two images recall the subjects of two previous versions of Sappho made by Paolini in 1968 (GPO-0144, GPO-0160).
2 G. Paolini in Giulio Paolini. 2121969, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Galleria De Nieubourg, 1969, n. pag. The attribution of the soubriquet “Decima musa”, according to Paolini formulated by the contemporary poet Alcaeus, harkens back to two previous works by the artist, Alceo and Decima musa from 1966 (GPO-0110, GPO-0111).
• Johann Heinrich Dannecker, Liegende Sappho, 1797-1802, marble, 26.5 x 68.5 x 30 cm, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart.
• Giovanni Dupré, Saffo abbandonata, 1857, marble, h 140 cm, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Rome.
• Head of Sappho, unknown source.
| 1981 | Turin, Galleria Christian Stein, Giulio Paolini, from 21 January. |
| 1981 | Turin, Galleria Christian Stein, Baselitz, Kounellis, Paolini, Penck, from 11 June. |
| 1984 (?) | Turin, Mole Antonelliana, Coerenza in coerenza. Dall’Arte Povera al 1984, 12 June - 14 October, not repr. |
| 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, not repr. (same catalogue as for the solo exhibition in Villeurbanne 1984). |
| 1986-87 | Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli, Markus Lüpertz, Giulio Paolini: figure, colonne, finestre, 19 December 1986 - 29 March 1987, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 50 p. 117, repr. p. 122 (exhibition view). |
| 1988-89 | Seoul, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Italiana. Aspects of Avantgarde Art in Italy 1960-1986, 8-26 March, touring to: Frankfurt, Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst, 2 October - 13 November; Kassel, Staatliche und Städtische Kunstsammlungen, 15 January - 28 February 1989, cited in the checklist of exhibited works no. 12 p. 53, repr. pp. 32-33. |
| 2010-11 | Valencia, IVAM Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Colección Christian Stein. Una historia del arte italiano, 7 October 2010 - 23 January 2011, touring to: Lugano, Museo Cantonale d'Arte, 12 March - 15 May, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 348, col. repr. no. 46 p. 165. |
| 2017 | Cold Spring, Magazzino Italian Art, Margherita Stein: Rebel Without a Cause, from 24 June, no catalogue. |
| • | G. Paolini in Giulio Paolini. 2121969, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Galleria De Nieubourg, 1969, n. pag. |
| • | C. von Holst, Johann Heinrich Dannecker, vol. 1: Der Bildhauer (Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1987), p. 239, not repr. |
| • | La collection Christian Stein. Un regard sur l’art italien (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée and Art Édition, 1992), col. repr. p. 188, catalogue entry p. 293 (with incorrect list of exhibitions). |
| • | 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), p. 179, cat. no. 42 p. 143, not repr. |
| • | M. Bandini, “Christian Stein: una vita per l’arte”, in Anteprima Torino 4, no. 12 (Turin), December, 1998, col. repr. p. 28 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin). |
| • | D. Sung, “Arte per la vita”, in Case da abitare 48 (Turin), June, 2001, col. repr. p. 85 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin). |
| • | 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), col. repr. pp. 102 (installation view at the gallery-cum-house of Christian Stein, Turin), 165. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 439 p. 449, repr. (exhibition view Rivoli 1986-87). |
