L’ultimo quadro di Diego Velázquez, 1968
GPO-0155
Diego Velázquez’s Last Picture
Photo emulsion on canvas
93 x 62 cm
Signed, titled, and dated on the verso, upper stretcher bar, left: "Giulio Paolini / L'ultimo quadro di Diego Velazquez [sic] / 1968"
Consolandi Collection, Milan
The photographic canvas reproduces an overturned enlargement of the image reflected in the mirror at the back of the room, behind the painter, in Velázquez's Las Meninas (1656): in other words, the royal couple is seen from the position of the painter, who is intent on depicting them (the enlargement corresponds to the life-size dimensions of the two figures, seen from a certain distance). The title (“Diego Velázquez’s Last Picture”) refers to the presumed representation of the Spanish Royals, posing for Velázquez in Las Meninas, which remained unfinished (by Velázquez) and is now reproposed (by Paolini).
In his first written comment on the work, Paolini formulates the intention suggested by the title by quoting a sentence, referred to the mirror, from Michel Foucault's interpretation of Las Meninas: “the invisibility that it overcomes in this way is not the invisibility of what is hidden: it does not make its way around any obstacle, it is not distorting any perspective, it is addressing itself to what is invisible both because of the picture's structure and because of its existence as painting”.1
Like Rousseau's and Poussin's Autoritratti (GPO-0151, GPO-0152), or like Lo studio (GPO-0156), in this case as well Paolini calls into play an identification of the role, subtracting his identity in favour of that of the Painter par excellence.
The work is part of a group of works consisting of a detail from an Old Master painting, which is enlarged so that it matches the natural size of the subject (GPO-0153, GPO-0155, GPO-0156, GPO-0157). Attention is turned towards a "certain type of image that is not presented for what it is culturally, but, along with this, for something more complete, more relative to the image itself”.2 “The reference, the overlapping in time and in space of the images in their psychological relationships with vision are left to a perspective that it is up to the viewer to determine”,3 Paolini says.
1 G. Paolini in Giulio Paolini. 2121969, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Galleria De Nieubourg, 1969, n. pag. The complete quote from Foucault is: “Instead of surrounding visible objects, this mirror cuts straight through the whole field of the representation, ignoring all it might apprehend within that field, and restores visibility to that which resides outside all view. But the invisibility that …” (M. Foucault, The Order of Things [1966] [London: Routledge, 1989], p. 8.)
2 G. Paolini in C. Lonzi, Autoritratto (Bari: De Donato Editore, 1969), p. 327, reprint (Milan: Et al./Edizioni, 2010), p. 250, English edition (Brussels-London: Divided Publishing, 2021), p. 287.
3 G. Paolini interviewed by M. Bandini, in Prospects. Note d’arte contemporanea redatte da Luciano Inga-Pin 1 (Milan), March-April, 1972, n. pag.; republished in Giulio Paolini, 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 378.
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas, 1656, oil on canvas, 318 x 276 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
| 1969 | Milan, Galleria De Nieubourg, Giulio Paolini. 2121969, from 21 February, repr. |
| 1971 | Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall, Elf Italiener Heute, 28 February - 18 April, repr. p. 50. |
| 1973 | Ferrara, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Participio presente, 18 February - 1 April, not repr. |
| 1974 | New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Projects: Giulio Paolini, 21 March - 14 April, no catalogue; exhibition copy on paper. |
| 1976 | Parma, Palazzo della Pilotta, Sala delle Scuderie, Giulio Paolini, 11 March - 21 April, repr. no. 101, referred to in the text by M. Fagiolo p. 16; exhibition copy on paper. |
| 1979 | Ravenna, Pinacoteca Comunale, Loggetta Lombardesca, L’artista come storico, 24 November 1979 - 7 January 1980, touring to: Graz, Landesmuseum Joanneum, Der Künstler als Historiker, 19 January - 17 February 1980, no catalogue. |
| 1982 | Villeurbanne, Le Nouveau Musée, Une introduction à l’œuvre de Giulio Paolini 1960/70. Artiste invité de l’année, 16 September - 31 October, no catalogue; exhibition copy. |
| 1996 | Milan, Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta, Gli anni Sessanta. Le immagini al potere, 21 June - 22 September, repr. p. 199. |
| 1999-00 | Milan, Triennale di Milano, Il sentimento del 2000. Arte e foto: 1960-2000, 17 November 1999 - 16 January 2000, repr. p. 65. |
| 2003 | Milan, Fondazione Prada, Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, 29 October - 18 December, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 402, repr. p. 215. |
| 2005 | Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Giulio Paolini. Esposizione universale, 23 April - 24 June, touring to: Münster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Giulio Paolini. Esposizione universale, 1 October 2005 - 8 January 2006, cited in the checklist of exhibited works p. 86, referred to in the text by D. Schwarz p. 21, repr. n. pag. (exhibition view). |
| 2008 | Barcelona, Museu Picasso, Olvidando a Velázquez / Forgetting Velázquez. Las Meninas, 15 May - 28 September, repr. p. 194, catalogue entry by I. Cendoya p. 288. |
| 2009-10 | Lugano, Museo Cantonale d’arte, Guardami. Il volto e lo sguardo nell’arte 1969-2009, 25 October 2009 - 21 February 2010, cat. no. 75, repr. p. 286, catalogue entry by S. Menegoi p. 147, referred to in the text by B. Della Casa p. 45. |
| 2010 | Gallarate, MAGA Museo Arte Gallarate, Cosa fa la mia anima mentre sto lavorando? Opere d'arte contemporanea dalla Collezione Consolandi, 13 November 2010 - 13 February 2011, repr. p. 107, quotation by Paolo Consolandi on the work p. 31. |
| • | G. Paolini in Giulio Paolini. 2121969, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Galleria De Nieubourg, 1969; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 214. |
| • | G. Paolini in conversation with C. Lonzi, in C. Lonzi, Autoritratto (Bari: De Donato Editore, 1969), p. 327; in the reprint (Milan: Et al./Edizioni, 2010), p. 250; English edition (Brussels-London: Divided Publiishing, 2021), p. 287. |
| • | G. Paolini in the interview with M. Bandini, in Prospects. Note d’arte contemporanea redatte da Luciano Inga-Pin 1 (Milan), March-April, 1972, n. pag.; republished in Giulio Paolini, 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 378. |
| • | M. Volpi Orlandini, in Giulio Paolini. Vedo, exhibition catalogue, Rome, QUI arte contemporanea, 1970, not repr.; republished in Giulio Paolini. Vedo, exhibition catalogue, Turin, Galleria Notizie, 1970, not repr.; Id., La retina e l’inconscio. Note di arte contemporanea (Palermo: Palumbo Editore, 1973), p. 148, not repr.; Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, edited by G. Celant (Milan: Fondazione Prada, 2003), p. 306. |
| • | M. Bandini, "Intervista a Giulio Paolini", in Prospects. Note d’arte contemporanea redatte da Luciano Inga-Pin 1 (Milan), March-April, 1972, repr. n. pag. |
| • | G. Celant, Giulio Paolini (New York: Sonnabend Press, 1972), pp. 74-75, repr. no. 67 p. 76; republished in Giulio Paolini 1960-1972, op. cit. (Milan: 2003), pp. 234, 252; reprint (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2019). |
| • | T. Trini, "Giulio Paolini", in Art press 4 (Paris), May-June, 1973, p. 15, not repr. |
| • | M. Volpi Orlandini, "L’artista dell’avanguardia che piace allo storico dell’arte", in Bolaffiarte 4, no. 31 (Turin), June-July, 1973, p. 85, repr. p. 87; republished in Giulio Paolini (Parma: Università di Parma, Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione, 1976), p. 84. |
| • | G.B. Salerno, "L’invenzione di Paolini", in Art Dimension 3 (Rome), July-September, 1975, pp. 21-22, not repr.; republished in Giulio Paolini, op. cit. (Parma: 1976), pp. 97-98. |
| • | Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Mannheim, Mannheimer Kunstverein, 1977, repr. no. IV p. 10. |
| • | D. Elliott, "Paolini’s early work: language and dialectic", in Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 1980, p. 5, not repr. |
| • | C. Ferrari, "Giulio Paolini", in Luoghi del silenzio imparziale, exhibition catalogue [In labirinto], Milan, Palazzo della Permanente (Milan: Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, 1981), p. 110, not repr. |
| • | Giulio Paolini, vol. Images/Index (Villeurbanne: Le Nouveau Musée, 1984), repr. p. 28. |
| • | Giulio Paolini. La Casa di Lucrezio, exhibition catalogue, Spoleto, Palazzo Rosari Spada, (Casalecchio di Reno: Grafis Edizioni, 1984), repr. p. 14. |
| • | C. Spadoni, "Giulio Paolini", in Figure. Teoria e critica dell’arte 3, no. 7 (Rome), 1984, p. 93, not repr.; republished in Id., Storie d’arte e di critica tra Ottocento e Novecento (Imola: Maretti Editore, 2021), p. 248, not. repr. |
| • | S. Vertone, "Non tutto qui", in Giulio Paolini. "Tutto qui", exhibition catalogue, Ravenna, Pinacoteca Comunale, Loggetta Lombardesca (Ravenna: Agenzia Editoriale Essegi, 1985), pp. 27-28, 33, repr. no. 15. |
| • | M. Scholz-Hänsel, "Das imaginäre Museum Giulio Paolinis", in Giulio Paolini, exhibition catalogue, Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1986, vol. 2, pp. 17, 18, not repr. |
| • | F. Poli, "Note di lettura", in Id., Giulio Paolini (Turin: Lindau, Torino 1990), p. 34, 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. 55, not repr. |
| • | C. Kesser, Las Meninas von Velázquez (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1994), pp. 146-147, repr. no. 24 (with incorrect indication of the ownership in the caption on p. 232). |
| • | 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. 24, repr. p. 25. |
| • | L. Caramel, "Verso i Settanta (oltre i Sessanta)", in Verso i Settanta (1968-70). Arte in Italia negli anni ’70, exhibition catalogue, Erice, "La Salerniana", ex Convento di San Carlo (Milan: Edizioni Charta, 1996), pp. 15-16, repr. p. 15. |
| • | P.G. Castagnoli, "Qui e altrove", in Giulio Paolini. Da oggi a ieri, exhibition catalogue, Turin, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Turin: Hopefulmonster, 1999), pp. 15, 18, not repr. |
| • | A. Madesani, "Camere in prestito: breve percorso della fotografia utilizzata dagli artisti italiani nel corso degli anni Settanta", in Rubare l’immagine. Gli artisti e la fotografia negli anni ’70, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Spazio Labs (Milan: Edizioni Tega, 2000), p. 10, not repr. |
| • | M. Calvesi, "L’arte italiana nel ventesimo secolo", in Novecento. Arte e Storia in Italia, exhibition catalogue, Rome Scuderie Papali al Quirinale and Mercati di Traiano (Milan: Skira editore, 2000), p. 35, not repr. |
| • | A. Rorimer, New Art in the 60s and 70s. Redefining Reality (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001), pp. 66-67, not repr. |
| • | P. Consolandi, "Interviste/Paolo Consolandi", in De Gustibus. Collezione privata Italia, exhibition catalogue, Siena, Palazzo delle Papesse, Centro Arte Contemporanea (Pistoia: Maschietto Editore, 2002), p. 359, not repr. |
| • | Velazquez’ "Las Meninas", edited by S. Stratton-Pruitt (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 191-192, not repr. |
| • | A. Zevi, Peripezie del dopoguerra nell’arte italiana (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2005), p. 317, not repr. |
| • | G. Paolini, Quattro passi. Nel museo senza muse (Turin: Giulio Einaudi editore, 2006), repr. p. 68. |
| • | M. Disch, Giulio Paolini. Catalogo ragionato 1960-1999, vol. 1 (Milan: Skira editore, 2008), cat. no. 155 p. 175, repr. |
| • | R. Ferrario, Giulio Paolini. Un viaggio a distanza (Busto Arsizio: Nomos Edizioni, 2009), p. 20, repr. p. 21. |
| • | R. Perna, In forma di fotografia. Ricerche artistiche in Italia dal 1960 al 1970 (Rome: Derive Approdi, 2009), pp. 124-125, not repr. |
| • | J. Heiser, "Le mie parole, e tu? L'arte povera e le sue affinità con il concettualismo internazionale e il romanticismo", in Il confine evanescente. Arte italiana 1960-2010, edited by G. Guercio and A. Mattirolo (Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2010), p. 136, not repr. |
| • | B. Corà, "Arte torna arte", in Arte torna arte, exhibition catalogue, Florence, Galleria dell'Accademia (Florence: Giunti Editore, 2012), p. 32, not repr. |
| • | B. Yasar, "‘Hypothesis for an Exhibition’", in "Hypothesis for an Exhibition", exhibition catalogue, New York, Dominique Lévy Gallery, 2014, p. 34, repr. p 36. |
| • | E. Franz, "‘Vedo e non vedo’", in Id. et al., Giulio Paolini. Vedo e non vedo. In tema 1 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2014), pp. 22, 24, repr. p. 21. |
| • | Imagine. Nuove immagini nell’arte italiana 1960-1969, exhibition catalogue, Venice, Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice: Marsilio Editori, 2016), repr. p. 217. |
| • | F. Fergonzi, "‘Trasparenza etimologica’. Per una rilettura di Una lettera sul tempo (1968) di Giulio Paolini", in Giulio Paolini. Expositio, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2016), pp. 29, 31, not repr. |
| • | D. Viva, "La storia in abisso. Letteratura, fotografia e passato", in S. Bann et al., Il passato al presente. In tema 2 (Turin-Mantua: Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini and Corraini Edizioni, 2016), p. 74, repr. p. 107. |
| • | D. Soutif, "Filigrane. Paolini, il primo quadro e la storia dell’arte", ibid., pp. 108-115; republished in French in Les Cahiers du Musée national d’art moderne 137, Autumn, 2016, pp. 86, 88, repr. p. 88. |
| • | N. Cullinan, "Towards a Poor Theater. Giulio Paolini’s Scenographies in the 1970s / Per un teatro povero. Le scenografie di Giulio Paolini negli anni ‘70", in TV70: Francesco Vezzoli guarda la RAI, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Fondazione Prada, 2017, p. 219, not repr. |
| • | F. Stocchi, "A proposito del Bello ideale", in Giulio Paolini. Del Bello ideale, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Fondazione Carriero (London: Koenig Books, 2019), vol. 1 p. 39 endnote 7, col. repr. vol. 1 pp. 23 (exhibition view Winterthur 2005), 41. |
| • | F. Tedeschi, Luoghi di transizione. Forme e immagini di “passaggio” fra arte e architettura (Brescia: Edizioni Morcelliana, 2020), p. 216, not repr. |
| • | C. Casero, "Dalla citazione al riuso. Alcune pratiche artistiche di marca concettuale negli anni Sessanta e Settanta in Italia", in Cinegrafie 16 (Bologna), [December], 2019, p. 159, col. repr. p. 160. |
| • | C. Casero, Uno sguardo che riflette (Milan: Meltemi Editore, 2021), repr. no. 4.2 p. 87. |
| • | 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), pp. 35-36, repr. p. 47 no. 6. |
| • | G. Jori, “’Se questo è un sogno’, lettura del Calderón”, in Lettere italiane 74, no. 3 (Florence), 2022, p. 518, repr. no. 5. |
| • | L. Canova, “Negli abissi del tempo. Giulio Paolini e Giorgio de Chirico”, in Metafisica. Quaderni della Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico 22-23 (Imola: Maretti Editore, 2023), pp. 118, 125, col. repr. no. 14 p. 124. |
