Giorgio Morandi

Galleria del Milione, Milan
Galleria La Nuova Pesa, Rome
Albert Loeb & Krugier Gallery, New York
Galleria Medea, Milan
Galleria Annunciata, Milan
Studio Marconi, Milan
Ezio Bottini, Milan
Acquired from the above by the previous owner in the mid-1980s

Lamberto Vitali, Morandi, Dipinti. Catalogo Generale, volume secondo, 1948-1964, Milan, 1994, no. 1261, illustrated

The canvas is not lined and there is no evidence of retouching under ultra-violet light. This work is in very good original condition. Colours: In comparison with the printed catalogue illustration, the colours are overall fairly accurate, although slightly fresher and more varied in the original, particularly in the grey-blue background.
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Giorgio Morandi's works from the 1960s represent a continuous and devoted search for beauty and harmony in everyday objects. Renowned for his eloquent, disciplined compositions of bottles, bowls and pitchers, Morandi was preoccupied with the interior reality that resides behind familiar appearances. His paintings are quietly arresting, rich in the atmospheric effects created by subtle nuances of colour, tone and scale. By pursuing an aesthetic which is essential – lying beyond the limitations of place and time – Morandi became heir to a 'classical' purist tradition of Italian painting which can be traced back to the Renaissance as far as the work of Giotto. His powerful compositions blend a traditional genre of painting with a thoroughly modern aesthetic, and his miraculous ability to transform humble objects into something almost transcendental warrants his reputation as one of the greatest Italian artists of the twentieth century.

 

Between 1960 and 1962 Morandi executed several oils and watercolours depicting the tall pitcher, which dominates in the present composition. The inclusion of this new object reflects the artist's tirelessly inventive approach within the still-life genre to which he remained devoted. The bold outline and dark colour of the pitcher introduced a new range of pictorial and spatial possibilities, and a departure from the softer treatment of the earlier depictions of bottles. In the catalogue of the recent major Morandi retrospective, Renato Miracco wrote about this series of paintings: 'Positioned on the left or the right, the jug acts as the general deciding upon the strategy to be adopted. Under its guidance the pawns are arranged in different formations, like the famous tins of Ovomaltina (a popular beverage in Italy in the 1950s and 1960s)' (R. Miracco in Morandi (exhibition catalogue), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York & Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, 2008-09, p. 318).