Caleidoscopio Kaleidoscope

Details

GIULIO PAOLINI (B. 1940)
Caleidoscopio
Kaleidoscope
plaster and steel, in four parts
each column height: 35.7/8in. (91.3cm.)
each column diameter: 17¼in. (43.7cm.)
each base: 7/8 x 27.5/8 x 27.5/8in. (2.4 x 70.1 x 70.1cm.)
overall: 36.7/8 x 82¾ x 27.5/8in. (93.7 x 210 x 70.1cm.)
Executed in 1976, this work is number three from an edition of three

This work is accompanied by a photo-certificate signed by the artist.

Provenance

Ulrich Collection, Milan.
Le Case d’Arte, Milan.
Studio Casoli, Milan.
Galleria Christian Stein, Milan.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

Literature

T. Trini, “Come l’immaginario si ribella all’immaginazione”, in Data, n. 20, Milan, March-April 1976 (another from the edition illustrated in colour on the frontcover pp. 90-91).
Stampatori (ed.), Paolo Mussat Sartor Fotografo 1968-1978. Arte e artisti in Italia, Turin 1979 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 169).
“Il sublime e l’insignificante. Il mito dei due amanti o l’idea del sublime di Giulio Paolini”, in Gran Bazaar, n. 4, Milan, September-October 1979 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 157).
Giulio Paolini. Atto Unico in tre quadri, exh. cat., Milan, Studio Marconi, 1979 (illustrated in colour, p. 108).
L. Tomassoni, “Giulio Paolini”, in Flash Art, n. 94-95, Milan, January-February 1980 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 6).
M. Grüterich (ed.), Italienische Kunst heute, Mainz 1980 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 79).
E. Lucie-Smith, Art in the Seventies, Oxford 1980 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 101).
Actual Art Skira Annual N. 6 Special Issue 1970-1980, Geneva 1980 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 122).
G. Paolini, Images/Index, Villeurbanne 1984 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 72).
Der Traum des Orpheus. Mythologie in der italienischen Gegenwartskunst 1967 bis 1984, exh. cat., Munich, Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, 1984 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 83).
G. Paolini, “Trionfo della rappresentazione”, in Furor, n. 12, Geneva, October 1984, no. 6 (another from the edition illustrated).
The European Iceberg. Creativity in Germany and Italy Today, exh. cat., Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, Milan 1985 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 152).
Giulio Paolini. “Tutto qui”, exh. cat., Ravenna, Loggetta Lombardesca-Pinacoteca Comunale, 1985, no. 28 (another from the edition illustrated).
Del Arte Povera a 1985, exh. cat., Madrid, Palacio de Cristal, Palacio de Velázquez, 1985, no. 93 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 107).
Italia Aperta, exh. cat., Madrid, Fundación Caja de Pensiones, 1985, no. 40 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 121).
G. Celant, The Knot. Arte Povera, Turin 1985 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 24).
Galerie Paul Maenz (ed.), Paul Maenz Exhibition 1985-1986, Cologne 1986 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, unpaged).
G. Paolini, Suspense, Breve Storia Del Vuoto in Tredici Stanze, Florence 1988 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, pp. 50-51).
G. Celant & U. Allemandi, Die Italianische Vielfalt, Basel 1989 (another from the edition, illustrated, p. 41).
G. de Vries, An Avant-Garde Gallery and the Art of Our Time, Cologne 1991 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, pp. 204).
Artmonie. Architettura e scultura negli spazi pubblici, exh. cat., Ivano Fracena, Castel Ivano, 1997 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 27).
Giulio Paolini. Von heute bis gestern, exh. cat., Ostfildern-Ruit 1998 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 124 and p. 251).
H. Dickel, Die Sammlung Paul Maenz, Band I: Objeckte, Bilder, Neues Museum Weimar, Installationen, Ostfildern-Ruit 1998, no. 81 (another from the edition illustrated, p. 118).
C. Christov-Bakargiev (ed.), Arte Povera, London 1999 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 139).
Skulptur_Biennael im Musterland, exh. cat., Munster, Laumann-Verlag, Dulmen 1999 (installation view of another from the edition, illustrated, p. 60).
Sembianti della scultura, exh. cat., Crespellano (Bologna), Palazzo Stella, 2000 (installation view of another from the edition, illustrated p. 45).
Øivind Nygård & Morten Stræde, Bias. 33 artist’s view on sculpture, exh. cat., The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenaghen 2000 (illustrated, p. 154).
Giulio Paolini. Early Dynastic, exh. cat., Rome, Studio d’Arte Contemporanea Pino Casagrande, Milan 2001 (installation view of another from the edition, illustrated, pp. 30-31).
Paolo Mussat Sartor. Artisti e opere. Portraits, exh. cat., Nice, Galerie contemporaine du Musée d'Art Moderne et d’Art contemporain, 2003 (installation view of another from the edition, illustrated).
Melotti. Consonanze con Castellani, Fabro, Paolini, exh. cat., La Spezia, Centro Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, 2006 (another from the edition, illustrated, p. 23).
G. Paolini, Quattro Passi. Nel Museo senza muse, Turin 2006, tavola fuori testo no. IV (installation view of another from the edition, illustrated).
La solitudine dei segni, in Mentalgrafie. Viaggio nell’arte contemporanea italiana/ Mentalscapes. A journey through Italian Contemporary Art, exh. cat., Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Milan 2007 (another from the edition, illustrated, p. 26).
M. Disch, Giulio Paolini, catalogo ragionato, Tomo primo 1960-1982, Milan 2008, no. 323 (illustrated in colour, p. 332).

Exhibited

Milan, Studio Marconi, Giulio Paolini, 1976 (another from the edition exhibited).
Paris, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Giulio Paolini, 1976 (another from the edition exhibited).
Dusseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle, ProspectRETROSPECT, Europa 1974-1976, 1976 (another from the edition exhibited).
Mönchengladbach, Städtisches Museum, Giulio Paolini, 1977 (another from the edition exhibited).
Mannheim, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Giulio Paolini, 1977 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 57).
Naples, Museo Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes, Giulio Paolini, 1978 (another from the edition exhibited).
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Giulio Paolini, 1980 (installation view from another from the edition, illustrated, p. 54). This exhibition later travelled to Oxford, The Museum of Modern Art.
Bonn, Bonner Kunsteverein, Concetto-Imago. Generationswechsel in Italien, 1983 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 16).
Essen, Museum Fokwang, Die Sammlung FER – The FER Collection, 1984 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 119).
Spoleto, Palazzo Rosari Spada, XXVII Festival dei Due Mondi, Giulio Paolini Casa di Lucrezio, 1984, no. 2 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 37).
Perugia, Rocca Paolina, Palazzo dei Priori e Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, Attraversamenti. Linee della nuova arte contemporanea italiana, 1984 (another from the edition exhibited).
Cologne, Galerie Paul Maenz, Giulio Paolini. Dal “trionfo della rappresentazione”, 1986 (another from the edition exhibited).
Arnhem, Sonsbeek 86. International Sculpture Exhibition, vol. II, 1986 (installation view of another from the edition, illustrated in colour, p. 353).
Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Giulio Paolini, vol. 4, 1986, no. 25 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, 52); vol. 3 (installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 27-31); vol. 2 (another from the edition illustrated in the frontispiece).
Turin, Mole Antonelliana, Lo specchio e il doppio. Dallo Stagno di Narciso allo schermo televisivo, 1987, no. 121 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 212).
Rome, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Giulio Paolini, 1988-1989, no. 17 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated).
Bonn, Bonner Kunsteverein, 2000 Jahre. Die Gegenwart der Vergangenheit, 1989 (another from the edition exhibited, installation view illustrated, p. 23).
Salzburg, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Utopia. Arte Italiana 1950-1993, 1993, no. 69 (another from the edition exhibited, incorrectly dated, illustrated in colour, p. 104).
Weimar, Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar, Schlossmuseum, Der Furst schmollt – Moderne trifft Klassik: Werke aus der Sammlung Paul Maenz, 1994.
Sarzana, Fortezza Firmafede, Il mito e il classico nell’arte contemporanea italiana 1960-1990, 1995 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated in colour, p. 73).
Weimar, Weimarer Schloss, Giulio Paolini. Impressionis graphiques, 1996.
Torino, GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Giulio Paolini. Da oggi a ieri, no. 19, 1999 (another from the edition exhibited; installation view of another from the edition illustrated, p. 109).
Karlsruhe, Museum fur neue Kunst, Werke aus den Sammlungen FER, Froelich, Grässlin, Weishaupt, 1999 (another from the edition exhibited).
Weimar, Neues Museum, Vis-à-vis. Malerische Positionen aus den letzen sechs Jahrzehnten, 2002-03 (another from the edition exhibited).
Winterthur, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Giulio Paolini. Esposizione Universale, 2005, no. 15 (another from the edition exhibited; installation view of another from the edition, illustrated, unpaged). This exhibition later travelled to Münster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum fur Kunst and Kulturgeschichte.
Goslar, Mönchehaus Museum, Palais des Mirages. Werke aus der Sammlung FER, 2009 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 44).
Roma, Museo Carlo Bilotti, Speculazioni d’artista. Quattro generazioni allo specchio, 2009 (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, p. 69).
Ulm, Stadtregal Ulm, Sammlung FER Collection, 2009, (another from the edition exhibited, illustrated, unpaged).

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Brought to you by

Alessandro Diotallevi

adiotallevi@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2954

Lot Essay

Paolini's production of plaster cast works coincides with an interesting creative period during the 1970s, which lives side by side with the production of his characteristic canvases, installations and other works.
The Caleidoscopio (Kaleidoscope) a work of 1976 in an edition of three (from the late 1970s, his "plasters" were realised in an edition of six examples), constitutes one of the most published, best known works in plaster by the artist. This work magnificently describes the question of the nature of the image and its perception, from Paolini's perspective.
In Caleidoscopio, the artist cuts horizontally in two a classical column, which represents an elementary architectural form and, also, a concrete spatial element. The two parts that have been cut are laid on two sheets of stainless steel of identical size. The column whose base rests on the reflective surface is doubled, as though two columns were placed one on top of the other; the one with its base facing upwards is, on the contrary, extended in its reflected image, in a single entity, as though the column had lengthened.
A comment by Paolini clearly defines the underlying concept: "whoever imagines superimposing one column on the other, would reproduce the image that each column already reproduces of itself". A comment by the viewer, beyond the conceptual value of Caleidoscopio: placed in a room, the work becomes a presence that is as significant as it is mysterious, sophisticated and the bearer of a sense of sacredness.

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