Runny nose

Exhibition of Morandi in the Pushkin Museum. Art critic Maria Cristina helped Ekaterina Danilova understand the language of painting by Giorgio Morandi

More than 40 years after the exhibition of works by Giorgio Morandi, held at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin in 1973, the Museum is holding a large-scale retrospective of the work of Morandi (1890–1964), one of the leading artists of twentieth-century Italy and an iconic figure of modern European painting. Morandi's work has long received worldwide recognition, and today his works are in the center of attention of the international audience and artists, for whom they do not lose their relevance.

The exhibition, which is scheduled to be held at the Pushkin Museum from April 25 to September 10, 2017, will feature more than 90 exhibits, including 82 masterpieces by the master from world-famous museums and private collections.

The purpose of the exhibition is to show the scale of Giorgio Morandi’s work. The works selected for exhibition in Moscow cover the entire creative path of the artist, who worked fruitfully for half a century. The exhibition will show about 70 paintings and watercolors, which sufficiently characterize the stages of the master’s creative path - from avant-garde metaphysical compositions to the latest emotionally agitated works, distinguished by rigor and figurative depth. Throughout his life, the artist remained faithful to two genres - still life and landscape, depicting the objective world and nature that surrounded him.

The exhibition is structured in chronological order and will be thematically divided into main areas: self-portrait, still life, landscape and flowers. In some cases, special emphasis is placed on works that Morandi himself calls “variants” - these are similar, but always different compositions depicting the same objects.

To provide viewers with the opportunity to become more familiar with Morandi's working method, a separate section of the exhibition will present about 20 prints demonstrating the talent of Morandi the engraver - this talent has received worldwide recognition, and for the first time the master was awarded a prize for his prints at the São Paulo Biennale in 1953. Along with the engravings, the exhibition also includes several original engraving boards from the collection of the National Center of Graphics (Rome).

The works for the exhibition were carefully selected by curators from major museum collections: from the Museo Morandi in Bologna, the official institution representing the artist’s work, from foundations, in particular the Magnani Rocca Foundation (Traversetolo, Parma) and the Roberto Longhi Foundation (Florence), as well as from reputable private collections.

In addition, the exhibition will feature some objects from Morandi's workshop, provided by the Association of Museums of Bologna. This section of the exhibition will be accompanied by photographs of the artist and Morandi's studio.
This exhibition project in its entirety aims to acquaint Russian viewers with the creative ideas and scale of the personality of Giorgio Morandi, who, as he himself said, in his works sought to “touch to the bottom, to the very essence of things.”

At the end of April, the Pushkin Museum opened an exhibition of the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, whose art has incredible depth. The exhibition will last until September 10.

More than 40 years after the exhibition of works by Giorgio Morandi, held at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin in 1973, the Museum is showing a large-scale retrospective of the work of Morandi (1890–1964), one of the leading artists of twentieth-century Italy and an iconic figure of modern European painting. Morandi's work has long received worldwide recognition, and today his works are in the center of attention of the international audience and artists, for whom they do not lose their relevance.
The purpose of the exhibition is to show the scale of Giorgio Morandi’s work. The works selected for exhibition in Moscow fully cover the creative path of the artist, who went through two wars and years of fascism. The exhibition shows about 70 paintings and watercolors, which sufficiently characterize the stages of the master’s creative path - from avant-garde metaphysical compositions to the latest emotionally agitated works, distinguished by rigor and imaginative depth. Throughout his life, the artist remained faithful to two genres - still life and landscape, depicting the objective world and nature that surrounded him.

Giorgio Morandi. Still life. 1941. Oil on canvas. Collezione Patrimonio Artistico Eni S.p.a.

Giorgio Morandi. Flowers. 1918. Oil on canvas. Private collection

Giorgio Morandi. Still life. 1958. Private collection, Turin

Giorgio Morandi in the workshop. OK. 1950. Ansa/archivi Fratelli Alinari, Firenze

Morandi almost never traveled outside of Bologna and lived in solitude. He worked very slowly and concentratedly.
Morandi was greatly appreciated and loved by directors. In the famous shot from the film “Night” with Marcello Mastroianni, a Morandi painting can be seen in the background. Unfortunately, the painting itself could not be brought to the exhibition, but in the hall there is a similar one from the same period.

Still from the film "Night". In the background is a painting by Morandi.

The works (90 pieces in total) were carefully selected from major museum collections: from the Museo Morandi in Bologna, the official institution representing the artist’s work, from foundations, in particular the Magnani Rocca Foundation (Traversetolo, Parma) and the Roberto Longhi Foundation (Florence), as well as in reputable private collections.
Morandi's talent as an engraver received worldwide recognition, and for the first time the master was awarded a prize for his engravings at the Biennale in Sao Paulo in 1953. Several original engraving boards from the collection of the National Graphic Center (Rome) were specially brought to Moscow so that we could get a closer look at the master’s working method.
The exhibition is organized in chronological order and thematically divided into main areas: self-portrait, still life, landscape and flowers. In some cases, special emphasis is placed on works that Morandi himself calls “variants” - these are similar, but always different compositions depicting the same objects.

Based on materials from the press service of the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin

This exhibition is a big event for me - one of the closest and most beloved artists, but I have not seen his work live until now.
For me, it became one of the most powerful impressions of contact with art in general.
It often happens that a large exhibition of works by one author does not turn out to be of uniform quality (an example of this is large exhibitions in the State Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky). Here there is a feeling that there is not a single piece that can be removed, everything works to create a holistic impression, you can stand in front of each piece for ten to fifteen minutes.

I walked through the exhibition back and forth and noted a few things. Working with color and tone - the subtlest relationships in painting and watercolors, the appropriateness of each color in its quantity and intensity. Plastic - for him it makes no difference what to depict and with what, the plastic theme dominates everything else. He noted that a still life of small simple objects is perceived as an image of architectural volumes, the main relationships are taken so large and integrally. In the landscape from the first photo, I noticed that it was as if I was looking through a window, and not at a flat image. It was generally difficult to leave this work. In etchings there is the same sufficiency of tone as in painting (again to the fact that the medium of image is not so important to him) - there is no open black, very delicate white, a richness of halftones. There is no feeling of constriction, “swashbuckling” or “artistic” anywhere. Not an expression of one’s beloved and unique self, but service to nature, plasticity, and art as such. This feeling runs through all the works, and the Silence contained in them also affects the audience - several times I heard Silence in the hall.

Another thing is the lack of a concept, a manifesto, or a pose in these works. Plasticity turns out to be stronger than theory and stylistic references:
“My still lifes of that time remain still lifes and in no way suggest any metaphysical, surreal), psychological or literary reflections. My milliner's mannequins are objects like all others, they were not chosen to hint at the symbolic presence of human beings, legendary or mythological characters, for these works I chose ordinary titles - “Still Life”, “Flowers”, “Landscape” " (Giorgio Morandi)

I’d like to separately note the exposition - everything is beautifully done, except perhaps for the textured areas of the wall, they get in the way. A good find with windows curtained with white fabric - not only does living daylight appear in the exhibition, but also the landscape on the window, thanks to the fabric, becomes close in relation to the works of Morandi.
An excellent album was published for the exhibition, where you can not only see the works, but also read about the author.

Famous Italian master Giorgio Morandi(1890–1964), famous throughout the world for his almost monochrome and seemingly otherworldly still lifes and landscapes, returns to Moscow almost forty years later. His last exhibition in Russia took place here, in Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkina, in 1973, nine years after the death of the artist who revived the former art glory of Bologna in the 20th century.

“I am an artist of this type of still life that conveys a feeling of calm and solitude, a mood that I have always treasured,”- Morandi spoke about himself. The artist deliberately selected objects for his paintings - transparent and translucent vases, pots and bottles, focusing only on compositional balance.

Giorgio Morandi in the workshop
around 1950
© Ansa / Archivi Fratelli Alinari, Firenze

Rows of such paintings, of course, can be incredibly boring - and this is exactly how they are exhibited in his hometown, in the museum named after him. But Pushkinsky’s curators chose a chronological format for the retrospective, which means it won’t be boring: in his early years, Morandi actively experimented (his arsenal of that time included various styles of avant-garde painting), and then he also studied engraving.

In total, more than ninety works of different periods are shown in Moscow - from paintings and engravings to photographs and personal belongings of the artist from the Morandi Museum in Bologna, the Florentine Roberto Longhi Foundation and private collections.

"Still life"
1941
Collezione Patrimonio Artistico Eni S.p.a.

"Still life"
1958
Private collection, Turin

An exhibition of about 70 paintings and watercolors by Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964) from world-famous museums and private collections will open at the Gallery of European and American Art on April 25 and will last until mid-September

Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkina
April 25 - September 10, 2017
Gallery of European and American art of the 19th–20th centuries
Moscow, st. Volkhonka, 14

More than 40 years after the exhibition of works by Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964), held at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin in 1973, the museum plans to show a large-scale anthology of the work of one of the most important masters in the history of art in Italy in the first half of the twentieth century and an iconic figure in modern European painting. Morandi's work has long received worldwide recognition, and today his works are in demand both by a wide audience and by artists, for whom they do not lose their relevance.

The purpose of the exhibition is to show the scale of Giorgio Morandi's work. The works selected for exhibition in Moscow reflect the entire creative path of the artist, who worked fruitfully for half a century. The exhibition will feature about 70 paintings and watercolors from world-famous museums and private collections. These works quite fully characterize the stages of the master’s creative development - from avant-garde metaphysical and traditionally Italian works to the latest emotional ones, distinguished by rigor and figurative depth.

About 20 engravings and several original engravings from the collection of the National Calcography (Rome) will be shown, as well as exhibits from the Museo Morandi in Bologna, the official institution representing the artist's works in reputable private collections and in foundations - in particular the Magnani Rocca Foundation (Traversetolo , Parma) and the Roberto Longhi Foundation (Florence). In addition, viewers will be able to see some objects from the workshop of Giorgio Morandi, provided by the Association of Museums of Bologna.

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