While everyone has heard of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, few has heard of Giorgio Morandi, a native son of Bologna. I was at the Morandi museum in Bologna in March this year and was struck by the simplicity of his life and his work. He didn't have the patronage that the famous Renaissance artists had. All the money and influence of the Medici's were long gone. He lived with his sister, had a few objects in his studio which he arranges and paints and rearranges and paints again. He had this white vase which he puts flowers in and paints, he changes the flowers and paints again. He takes walks and paints, he takes another walk and paints again. His paintings are titled (many of them has the same title) ' a walk' or 'a vase of flowers'. After his death, his sister donated his work to the city of Bologna and a small museum dedicated to Morandi was started.
It is a very humble museum, a depiction of his humble studio is also on display, his work numbers in the thousands. It is so remarkable to be able to work with so little. I have some 50 art books and I have yet to come up with anything original of notable quality. I need to turn the TV off. I need to go to spend more time in Italy, slowly take it all in and draw and paint something.......
No comments:
Post a Comment