Morandi: Master of Modern Still Life
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Individual Artists
Morandi: Master of Modern Still Life Details
Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) built his visual lexicon from the most minimal of props--dust-covered bottles, bowls, vases, pitchers, tins and boxes. From it, he composed delicious permutations of quiet still lifes, in the most muted yet luminous of palettes, transforming the genre of still life into a cosmos. The composer Morton Feldman once wrote that in his own work he was "interested in getting to Time in its unstructured existence... How Time exists before we put our paws on it," and in this sense Morandi may be his counterpart in paint: his painted objects seem to possess a subtle self-sufficiency and interiority. Accompanying a recent exhibition at the Phillips Collection, Washington D.C., this beautifully designed catalogue contains a selection of reproductions buttressed with two essays by Morandi experts: Flavio Fergonzi appraises the myths that have attached to Morandi, the history of his critical reception and the cities with which the artist was particularly associated; Elisabetta Barisoni discusses Morandi's reception in America.
Reviews
"Morandi - Master of Modern Still Life" is the 126-page catalogue that accompanies the wonderful Morandi show currently on display at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC. Works covered begin in 1913 with paintings showing a definite cubist influence and end with a 1962 still life that is the stripped down essence of the artist's signature works. There is so much to learn and appreciate in Morandi's art--spatial relationships, color and color harmony and artistic vision.The insightful catalogue includes sections on criticism and personal history of the artist, past exhibitions in the U.S. and miscellaneous memoirs of the painter, and well-chosen color illustrations of many of the paintings in the Phillips exhibiition. In the early sections of the book there are some wonderful photos of Morandi's Bologna studio which was pretty much the center of his world. This was not a man who traveled much or who was much influenced by other painters or trends. Many if not all of the objects that figured in Morandi's still lifes are still to be seen in that studio.This catalogue/book will be an excellent addition to any art library.