Bernard Noël's 'Le Roman d'un être' Chronicles Roman Opalka's Lifelong Number Paintings
Bernard Noël's book 'Le Roman d'un être', published by P.O.L, offers an intimate account of Roman Opalka's decades-long artistic project. Starting in 1965, Opalka dedicated his life to painting sequential numbers on canvas, a practice he continued until his death in 2011. He painted white numbers on a gradually lightening gray background, eventually achieving white on white, while simultaneously recording them aloud. Each day, he photographed his face under consistent conditions. Noël observed Opalka's ritual multiple times between 1985 and 1996, meticulously documenting gestures, stages, and words. The book's prose, dense and unpunctuated, mirrors the artist's repetitive yet non-repetitive process, capturing the physicality of brushwork and the existential drama of 'man incorporated into the painting'. Noël's writing blends details of the work with moments of life, moving toward the ultimate end that gives 'the unfinished the meaning of the finished'.
Key facts
- Roman Opalka began painting sequential numbers on canvas in 1965 and continued until his death in 2011.
- Opalka painted white numbers on a gray background, gradually adding more white to achieve white on white.
- He recorded the numbers aloud on tape and took daily photographs of his face under standardized conditions.
- Bernard Noël observed Opalka's process multiple times between 1985 and 1996.
- Noël's book 'Le Roman d'un être' is published by P.O.L.
- The book's writing is dense and without punctuation, reflecting the artist's method.
- Noël's text captures the physical gestures of painting, such as 'rapid flexions' and 'minuscule rotations'.
- The work addresses the 'drama of man incorporated into the painting'.
Entities
Artists
- Roman Opalka
- Bernard Noël
Institutions
- P.O.L
Sources
- artpress —