Michelangelo Pistoletto

Galleria dell'Ariete, Milan
Galleria Toninelli Arte Moderna, Milan
Private Collection, Switzerland
Sale: Sotheby's, London, 20th Century Italian Art, 25 October 2000, Lot 41
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Hannover, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Michelangelo Pistoletto, 1973-74, no. 12

Bruno Corà, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Ravenna 1986, p. 150, no. 103, illustrated (as part of an installation)

Colour: The colours in the catalogue are fairly accurate although the flesh tones are warmer and the orange book is brighter and more vibrant in the original. The illustration fails to fully capture the metallic and reflective quality of the mirror (stainless steel). Condition: This work is in very good condition. Figure: there is a very minor loss along the extreme bottom edge in the shoe, and a few scattered spots of discolouration in the figure. There are a few small media accretions in the book above the text, and a very small imperfection to the front of her skirt. Mirror: there is a very small media splash to the left of the figure's skirt, and another to the left of her lower back. There are a few minute scattered media accretions to the top, above the figure, and a small spot along the lower right edge. There are a few smudge marks in the bottom right and a horizontal polish mark along the bottom edge. No restoration is apparent under ultra violet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A definitive exponent of self-reference and a seminal model for post-Modernism, Michelangelo Pistoletto's Visitatrice con Catalogo of 1969 is a paragon of his famous and highly-esteemed Mirror Paintings. Including the depiction of a woman who is thoughtfully holding her hand to her chin and casually holding a catalogue that ironically bears the artist's own name, this work is a masterpiece of satirical purity. The catalogue is for the monographic exhibition for Pistoletto held at the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in Rotterdam between March and May 1969, and the female protagonist, representing the stereotypical gallery-viewer, is presumed to parallel the spectator who is standing in front of the present work. By declared advertisement and physical necessity, not only are both she and we looking at the work of Pistoletto, but also the representations of both she and us are simultaneously contained within Pistoletto's actual picture plane itself.  

Pistoletto's figure occupies the left side of the mirror, leaving a large part of the remaining surface empty for the real world to be reflected in. Indeed, the polished stainless steel becomes a threshold, creating at the same time a world of real and reflected images, as well as conflating physical and pictorial space. Having first experimented with surface reflection in 1956 with a series of self-portraits painted on varnished and shiny backgrounds, Pistoletto reserved his use of painted tissue-paper for his most important works, whereas other Mirror Paintings have silk-screens of photographs transferred onto their steel surface. The environment in front of the mirror is continually depicted, capturing the unending space within the picture frame. This representational dynamism is compounded by the dichotomy between the static painted image and the constant evolution of the reflections in the mirror. Investigating the fourth dimension; time; Pistoletto's forever-evolving work finally provides entirely new parameters for representation, as summarized by Germano Celant: "Pistoletto offers a surface open to all present and future transit, a hypersensitive organism for receiving and transmitting" (Germano Celant in: Exhibition Catalogue, New York, The Institute for Contemporary Art, P.S.1 Museum, Pistoletto, Division and Multiplication of the Mirror, 1988, p. 22).