Natura Morte. 1963.
Pencil drawing.
Not in Tavoni. Signed and dated in the bottom center. 18.5 x 26.8 cm (7.2 x 10.5 in), size of sheet.
[EH].

• Preliminary work for a small series of oil paintings (e.g. Vitali 1265-1267) created during the same period.
• The still lifes of vessels are considered key works in Giorgio Morandi's oeuvre.
• Fine, reduced pencil drawing with the degree of abstraction so characteristic of his later works.

PROVENANCE: Private collection Switzerland.

EXHIBITION: Giorgio Morandi, Kunstmuseum Winterthur April 1 - July 2, 2000, cat. no. 83, illustrated (with a label on the reverse).

"Morandi's art, expressed through variations of relatively unobtrusive motifs, is an art of suggestion, not of deception. This is how Morandi manages to construct a whole emotional world open to those who enjoy intellectual speculation. He combines an inexpressible grace with an always lucid and rigorous rationality.." Lamberto Vitali, in: Giorgio Morandi. Natures Mortes. Exhibition Galerie Schreiner SA, June-July 1977, no page. (p. 30).

The arrangement of the objects alone is unusual in its density: no matter how many objects Morandi selects for his still lifes, they always stand in close spatial relation to one another. The simple objects are imbued with a secret, latent magic that Morandi discovers and visualizes in an unusually dense statement. There is another drawing from 1962 (Tavoni 284) that shows this arrangement of vessels, but without the shading. This and our drawing are preliminary studies for a small series of oil paintings (e.g., Vitali 1265-1267) created during the same period.

In good condition.