Giorgio Morandi: Lines of Poetry

Giorgio Morandi: Lines of Poetry presents a large selection of graphic works by Bologna’s master of poetic understatement. Entirely self-taught as a printmaker, in 1912 Morandi began to etch using old manuals as his reference guides. He quickly mastered the technique, coming to consider it an important vehicle for his artistic expression, and the medium continued to be important to him throughout his career. Morandi went on to hold the Chair in Printmaking at Bologna’s Academy of Fine Arts for more than 20 years. These still lifes and landscapes reveal the artist’s stylistic versatility and desire for experimentation. Also included in this volume are a number of Morandi’s watercolors--works that exemplify his ability to distil the essence of a complex scene or composition into an arrangement of simple, near-abstract forms. Captivating in their restraint and extraordinary economy of means, these images are nevertheless intensely moving.