Giorgio Morandi, Paesaggio, 1925

Giorgio Morandi (Bologna, Italy 1890 - Bologna, Italy 1964)

Born in Bologna, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts with Severo Pozzati, Osvaldo Licini, Mario Bacchelli and Giuseppe Vespignani. From a young age, he was in contact with the Futurists, despite maintaining an openness for international artistic culture.

His main reference was Cézanne, who inspired him to develop a personal visual language aiming at the solidity of the forms in dialogue with the surrounding space, as in the most advanced contemporary artistic research.

The year 1914 was a turning point for Morandi who began to exhibit: the five-person show, known as the futurist origin, was held at the Hotel Baglioni in Bologna, in which he participated with Osvaldo Licini, Mario Bacchelli, Giacomo Vespignani and Severo Pozzati.

He later joined the Plastic Values group, exhibiting with them in several German cities.

From 1920, Morandi worked on defining his own style, first painting in dense colours with summary outlines, then with a delicate chromatic choice. Based on a reality restricted to a small number of everyday objects (bottles, vases, jugs, lamps), the artist encloses his entire poetic world within this perimeter.

From 1928, he featured in several editions of the Venice Biennial and the Roman Quadrennial, as well as exhibiting in various Italian and foreign cities. From 1930 to 1956, he taught engraving at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, producing most of his etchings in these years.

In the summer of 1943, Morandi was forced to leave Bologna and retreat to Grizzana.

For Morandi, international success came in 1948, with the First Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennial, followed by two other prizes from the Biennials of São Paulo in Brazil in 1953 and 1957, for etching and painting respectively, and the Rubens Prize in 1962.

He died in his Bologna in 1964.