Lot 25 : GIULIO PAOLINI

Giulio Paolini - 1940

Auction Location: United Kingdom - 2004
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Title:

QUATTRO FOTOGRAMMI DELLA LUCE

Date:

B. 1940

Description:

(i) signed, titled and dated 1969 twice and 12/5/69 on the reverse

photogramme on canvas, in four parts

Dimensions:

each: 24.5 by 19.5cm.

each: 9 5/8 by 7 3/4 in.

Provenance:

Galleria Notizie, Turin
Acquired directly from the above by the previous owner in the early 1970's

Notes:

"The importance of Paolini lies in his continual questionings about the nature of art...working on the theme of seeing, which is within the mind and which requires the mind to be free of the usual excess of inherited false notions." (T. Trini, Primo appunto sul tempo, in 'Arte et Critica 70', Modena 1970)

Executed in 1969, Quattro Fotogrammi delle Luce continues the legacy initiated by his seminal work Disegno Geometrico of 1960, and provides an exquisite insight into one of the most important themes of Paolini's rich conceptual and visual language: namely the deconstruction and isolation of the traditional linguistics underlying the artistic process. Central to the visual arts is the illuminating property of light, without which the properties of colour, form and perspective would all be inconceivable. The individual interpretation of light and the way certain artists have chosen to depict it, has been one of the most important attributes in distinguishing an artist's unique style, ranging from the suggestive delicacy of Leonardo's sfumato to the dramatic chiaroscuro of Caravaggio. In the present work Paolini divorces light from the depiction of form or image to expose its fundamental properties and suggestive character. Devoid of colour or definition that might detract from Paolini's investigation into the most primary of image components, the four out-of-focus black and white photograms printed onto canvas combine in powerful harmony to make explicit the endless variations and subtle expressive nuances of light.

A photogram is a photograph made without a camera or lens by placing an object or objects on top of a sheet of light-sensitive photographic paper, and then exposing the paper to light. Where an object covers the paper, the paper remains unexposed and light in tone: where it does not, the paper darkens. In Quattro Fotogrammi Delle Luce Paolini achieves an entrancing effect in which dappled forms and shapes advance and recede before our eyes shrouded in abstract mystery. As a prominent and influential member of the arte povera group, Paolini and his group of friends were notable for their use of simple gestures using everyday 'poor' materials, ranging from stones and twigs to fabric and live animals. Despite Paolini's devotion to unadorned white canvases and exposed, untreated stretchers and frames, he also sought to express the global context of art through simple gestures using contemporary materials, such as photographic paper, postcards and magazine images.

In the present work, the absence of the actual objects used in process of exposure takes on an analytical significance equal to Paolini's earliest works in which he sought to challenge and investigate the traditional definitions and conventions regarding the creation, presentation and interpretation of art. More specifically he examines the complex relationship between artist and viewer, dissecting the physicality of the art object itself to define and clarify the moment at which the objective reality of a picture becomes a mental reality for its audience.

The beguiling beauty and delicate tonal subtlety of the printed canvases are infused with a poetic symbolism here that appeals to our most primary sense of visual awareness. Addressing eminent issues such as time, space and perspective - as well as the cultural conditioning of both the artist and observer through inherited concepts such as the frame - the present work encompasses a wide range of Paolini's fundamental ideas, and represents one of his most exquisite and provocative works from the 1960's.