Still Life,

1957

<p>A lifelong resident of Bologna, Morandi was influenced by the works of Cézanne and Picasso as well as those by Giotto and Piero della Francesca. Beginning in the early 1920s he restricted his painting primarily to still life compositions of bottles and utensils. Often posing the same vessels in varying groupings, Morandi explored neutral color hues and subtle tones to convey the vessels’ plasticity and three-dimensional presence. </p>

Born in Bologna, Giorgio Morandi studied and then taught at its Academy of Fine Arts, remaining in his birthplace all his life. The works of Cézanne, Giotto, Masaccio, and Piero della Francesca, as well as the city of Rome itself (the scene of a few early trips), were decisive influences. He deliberately restricted travel and subject matter, perfecting his style in solitude. Still life and landscape were his favored themes, with few figural works. A painter’s painter and printmaker’s printmaker, Morandi was once considered provincial, but toward the end of his life, some critics believed him to be one of the greatest living artists.