Giorgio Morandi (Twentieth-Century Masters Series)
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Giorgio Morandi (Twentieth-Century Masters Series) Details
From Booklist Few major twentieth-century artists seem duller at first glance than Morandi (1890^-1964). Except for some very early portraits, his work is "about" just three things: the landscape, with windowless houses, of hilly northern Italy; the courtyard of Morandi's apartment building in Bologna; and bottles, bowls, boxes, and other utensils atop a table. His palette of dusty hues is more subdued than that of the cubists, he regards his subjects from directly in front of them, and, except in the paintings from the year he was influenced by Di Chirico, he eschews dramatic effects. Those who know painting, however, see Morandi as the greatest disciple of Ce zanne and a painter whose subject is seeing itself and who, in the acts of seeing and representing, teases out meaning and feeling. Wilkin, one of the best contemporary writers on art, helps us realize Morandi's relationship to Ce zanne and also to the much earlier Giotto and Piero della Francesca brilliantly well. With 116 plates, an excellent library choice. Ray Olson Read more
Reviews
This is one of the best books on Morandi that I've come across. Wilkin's text is wonderfully clear and objective, and mercifully free of "art babble." The illustrations are well chosen and very, very well printed. Not everyone "gets" Morandi, as Wilkin points out, but this representation of his work will certainly make a few converts.
