Natura Morta (Still Life) by Giorgio Morandi

The still lifes of Giorgio Morandi consist of a few simple and everyday objects that allow the artist to investigate different painting techniques and uses of light. 

For his artwork and engravings, Giorgio Morandi preferred bottles, vases, boxes, bowls, carafes and oil lamps as subjects; they were never mere tools. 

They conceal a much more subtle and profound meaning– meaning found by going beyond the boundaries of exteriors. 

Every still life of Giorgio Morandi, for however simple and casual it may seem, is the result of an articulated creative process that could last weeks. 

The artist loved to wonder through markets and second-hand shops to expand and update his collections of shards, containers, and bottles of varied shapes and colors.

He chose them with care and dedication, and took them to his studio and home in Bologna, where he lived and worked, immersed in his universe of furnishings. 

The objects that are repeated over and over again acquire solemnity. Their diverse arrangements as well as their inclination render each still life different than the one before. Compared to his still lifes created before the 1940s, those in the Galleria Nazionale have greater plasticity and concreteness.