Megara, 1966
GPO-0106
Four primed canvases mounted on stretchers fastened together on the verso
138 x 138 cm
Titled, signed, and dated on the verso, upper stretcher bar: “Megara Giulio Paolini 1966”
Museo del Novecento, Milan
Acquired in 1983, inventory no. Gam 8521
Four triangular canvases fastened together on the verso by curved rods generate a concave “painting”. The title refers to the city where Euclid founded his school of philosophy in the 5th century BC.
The work is part of the research that distinguished the artist's output in 1966. Starting from the same premise – canvases juxtaposed so that they mark the corner of a room, seen as the elementary point of origin of a space – many different optical configurations were developed, calling into play the gap between the logical assumption – the elementary and rational given – and the illogical and mutating complexity of the perception.
| 1985 | Frankfurt, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Italienische Kunst 1900-1980. Hauptwerke aus dem Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Mailand, 22 February - 8 April, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 191, repr. p. 167. |
| 1989 | Milan, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Arte contemporanea per un museo. 10 anni di acquisizioni delle Raccolte d’Arte di Milano, 23 June - 4 September, col. repr. p. 68. |
| 1998 | Mantua, Casa del Mantegna, "Viaggio in Italia 1998-2000: Milano". Da Boccioni a..., 6 September - 15 November, col. repr. n. pag., b/w repr. p. 39 (installation view at CIMAC Collection). |
| 2002-03 | Weimar, Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar, Bella pittura. Meisterwerke italienischer Kunst im 20. Jahrhundert aus den Sammlungen der der Stadt Mailand, 21 April • 23 June, touring to: Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum, 7 July - 15 September; Klagenfurt, Stadtgalerie, 26 January - 11 May 2003, cat. no. 107, col. repr. p. 225. |
| 2005 | Milan, Museo della Permanente, Filoluce. Da Balla a Boetti, da Fontana a Flavin, 11 May - 3 July, repr. p. 54, referred to in the text by L. Giudici. |
| 2007 | Milan, Palazzo Reale, Camera con vista. Arte e interni in Italia 1900-2000, 18 April - 1 July, col. repr. p. 162. |
| 2010-11 | Milan, Museo del Novecento, [opening exhibition], from 6 December 2010. |
| 2025 | Milan, Museo del Novecento, Rauschenberg e il Novecento, 5 April - 29 June. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. Werke und Schriften 1960-1980 (Lucerne: Kunstmuseum Luzern, 1981), repr. n. pag. |
| • | Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1986, vol. 1, repr. p. 43. |
| • | Civico Museo d’Arte Contemporanea. Musei e Gallerie di Milano, edited by M.T. Fiorio (Milan: Electa, 1994), catalogue entry by M. Meneguzzo and L. Sansone pp. 290-291, repr. p. 290 cat. no. 314. |
| • | 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. 216. |
| • | Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), col. repr. p. 169. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 106 p. 133, col. repr. |
| • | Museo del Novecento. La Collezione (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2011), pp. 334-335 (catalogue entry by D. Viva, with incorrect list of exhibitions), col. repr. p. 334. |
| • | F. Belloni, Giulio Paolini. Disegno geometrico, 1960. In collezione 6 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2019), p. 64, col. repr. p. 61. |
| • | Museo del Novecento. Un nuovo racconto, edited by A.M. Montaldo (Cinisello Balsamo: Museo del Novecento and Silvana Editoriale, 2021), p. 221 (referred to in the text by F. Fergonzi), col. repr. pp. 225 (installation view at Museo del Novecento, Milan), 324. |
| • | M. Costa, “Accoppiamenti Giudiziosi / Judicious Pairings”, in Inventario 19 (Mantua), November, 2025, p. 141, col. repr. |
