For its “In collezione” series (Italian/English) the Fondazione Giulio e Anna Paolini in Turin, Italy, invites international researchers and scholars with a graduate (i.e. Master’s and or Ph.D.) degree in art history or in another area of the humanities to submit their application for the writing of a paid essay on one of the three works by Giulio Paolini indicated below. The length of the text must be from a minimum of 7,000 to a maximum of 10,000 words. The winning proposal will be selected based on an abstract that must be at least 500 words long to be sent to the Foundation by 30 September 2014. Candidates may choose from one of the following works:

1. Senza titolo, 1961: One of the most representative examples of the artist’s early work, it is comprised of a tin of white paint placed on the lower edge of an empty stretcher and held down by a transparent polyethylene sheet stretched across the stretcher like a canvas.
2. Mimesi, 1975: Two plaster casts of the bust of the Hermes of Praxiteles are arranged opposite each other, just slightly staggered so that their gazes cross. An icon par excellence of Paolini’s art.
3. Delfo (IV), 1997: The fourth variant of a theme begun in 1965 introduces a photographic portrait of Giulio Paolini, taken at a distance as he gazes over the balcony of his home, set inside an enlargement of the same photograph matching the frame of the window.

The “In collezione” series examines the 67 works by Giulio Paolini – paintings, sculptures, installations – executed between 1960 and 2011 that currently comprise the Foundation collection. Each volume contains the in-depth study of one work (or the joint study of several related works). The monographic studies, accompanied by illustrations, propose a wide range of investigation: from description to interpretation, from formal aspects to conceptual ones, from the position within Paolini’s research to the contextualization within the art-historical field of their time. The back matter which follows the main text includes the exhibition chronology and bibliography for the work analyzed, as well as additional information and testimonies. The Foundation is a non-profit organization whose main purpose is the study and mediation of the activities of Giulio Paolini. For further details on the competition and the works concerned, see the corresponding page in the Foundation website. Deadline 30 September 2014.