Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Still Life

Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) Italian
Still Life, 1946
Oil on canvas
533 x 613 x 65 mm
Tate Collection

Morandi was suggested by a reader of this blog after he went to a recent show of his work at the Met. A quick look and I recognized his work, but have not spent much time with it myself. This work is indicative of Morandi's work. His theme remained unchanged, as he kept with painting the same familiar items over the course of his career. He shifted from a more bold slightly cubist approach to a softness more befitting romanticism or impressionism. The paintings are soft and silent, the objects losing their afillation with their uses as they retain their individual shape yet still blend into their monochromatic backgrounds.

I don't yet have a strong feeling on the aesthetics of Morandi's work, but hopefully I'll come across it in the near future in person and be able to get a better grasp of his unique subtlety in painting.

2 comments:

johnh said...

I saw the show, an the subtltey was difficult for me to grasp. What was interesting about his work, that over his entire career and body of work, he continued to develop his theme until it matured into an artistic statement that showed the complete growth he achieved over a lifetime. I don;t think many artists have been able to do that. Hard to explain this to someone who hasn't seen the show in its entirety.

johnh said...

I saw the show, an the subtltey was difficult for me to grasp. What was interesting about his work, that over his entire career and body of work, he continued to develop his theme until it matured into an artistic statement that showed the complete growth he achieved over a lifetime. I don;t think many artists have been able to do that. Hard to explain this to someone who hasn't seen the show in its entirety.