When we think of Italian artwork, it is the names of the Renaissance, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian and Piero della Francesca we probably think of. The Italian Renaissance, sponsored by the Vatican and the Medici family placed Italy in the forefront of artistic creativity, making Florence and Rome the art capitals of the world in the 14th through 16th centuries.
Another epochal period in art history began mid-19th century when France gave us Impressionism. Like the Renaissance, artists flourished, became famous and lived in comfort. The 20th century brought us the modern period when Picasso and Matisse earned international fame and wealth. Paris was the reigning art capital.
Quietly working in a studio in his hometown of Bologna, Italy, Giorgio Morandi, while watching the trends in Paris from afar, avoided the clamor. While managing to earn a reputation as a modern master and the foremost still life painter of the 20th century, he worked in solitude.
Morandi was influenced by another Italian, Giorgio de Chirico, whose paintings depicted a brooding surrealism. Nevertheless he is often compared with Giotto, a pre-Renaissance painter of childlike simplicity. The paintings of Morandi, unembellished still lifes of ordinary bottles, evoke the architecture of Italy, especially that of medieval Bologna.
There is a saying in artistic composition that less is often more. Morandi certainly embraced this concept. With a neutral tonality, the lack of any overt technical gimmicks such as reflecting light or mirroring images, removing labels that would force attention, he gave us an almost pure form of abstraction. With his simple motifs, repeated tirelessly, a spiritual component overtakes the seemingly banal composition.
Visiting Italy and the vast quantity of Italian artwork, a quiet stop in Bologna may refresh the aesthetic sensibilities. At the Morandi Museum you will find nothing to puzzle over. With no history lessons to absorb, no technical feats to be in awe of, you will instead see with eye of a gifted artist, who offered a gentle message imbued with spirit. Read more about: Italian Artwork
Another epochal period in art history began mid-19th century when France gave us Impressionism. Like the Renaissance, artists flourished, became famous and lived in comfort. The 20th century brought us the modern period when Picasso and Matisse earned international fame and wealth. Paris was the reigning art capital.
Quietly working in a studio in his hometown of Bologna, Italy, Giorgio Morandi, while watching the trends in Paris from afar, avoided the clamor. While managing to earn a reputation as a modern master and the foremost still life painter of the 20th century, he worked in solitude.
Morandi was influenced by another Italian, Giorgio de Chirico, whose paintings depicted a brooding surrealism. Nevertheless he is often compared with Giotto, a pre-Renaissance painter of childlike simplicity. The paintings of Morandi, unembellished still lifes of ordinary bottles, evoke the architecture of Italy, especially that of medieval Bologna.
There is a saying in artistic composition that less is often more. Morandi certainly embraced this concept. With a neutral tonality, the lack of any overt technical gimmicks such as reflecting light or mirroring images, removing labels that would force attention, he gave us an almost pure form of abstraction. With his simple motifs, repeated tirelessly, a spiritual component overtakes the seemingly banal composition.
Visiting Italy and the vast quantity of Italian artwork, a quiet stop in Bologna may refresh the aesthetic sensibilities. At the Morandi Museum you will find nothing to puzzle over. With no history lessons to absorb, no technical feats to be in awe of, you will instead see with eye of a gifted artist, who offered a gentle message imbued with spirit. Read more about: Italian Artwork
No comments:
Post a Comment