Morandi, Giorgio

born July 20, 1890, Bologna, Italy

died June 18, 1964, Bologna

Italian painter and etcher.

He first exhibited his paintings with the Futurists and was closely associated with the Metaphysical painters, but he is identified with neither school. He repeatedly returned to the subject matter of simple, geometric still lifes of bottles, jars, and boxes; by returning to the same subject matter, he was able to move past content to an exploration of pure form (i.e., line, colour, shape). His contemplative approach gave his landscapes and still lifes a delicacy of tone and subtlety of design. As instructor of etching at Bologna's Academy of Fine Arts (1930–56), he had a profound influence on Italian graphic artists.

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▪ Italian artist

born July 20, 1890, Bologna, Italy

died June 18, 1964, Bologna

      Italian painter and printmaker known for his simple, contemplative still lifes of bottles, jars, and boxes.

      Morandi cannot be closely identified with a particular school of painting. His major influence was the work of French Post-Impressionist (Post-Impressionism) painter Paul Cézanne (Cézanne, Paul), whose emphasis on form and flat areas of colour Morandi emulated throughout his career. Morandi first exhibited his work in 1914 in Bologna with the Futurist (Futurism) painters, and in 1918–19 he was associated with the Metaphysical school (Metaphysical painting), a group who painted in a style developed by Giorgio de Chirico (de Chirico, Giorgio) and Carlo Carrà (Carrà, Carlo). Artists who worked in the Metaphysical painting style attempted to imbue everyday objects with a dreamlike atmosphere of mystery.

      Morandi developed an intimate approach to art that, directed by a highly refined formal sensibility, gave his quiet landscapes and disarmingly simple still-life compositions a delicacy of tone and extraordinary subtlety of design. His gentle, lyrical colours are subdued and limited to clay-toned whites, drab greens, and umber browns, with occasional highlights of terra-cotta. Morandi's paintings of bottles and jars convey a mood of contemplative repose reminiscent of the work of Piero della Francesca, an Italian Renaissance artist whom he admired.

      As instructor of etching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna from 1930 to 1956, Morandi had a profound influence on succeeding generations of Italian graphic artists.

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