From 26 May to 10 September 2000 Giorgio Morandi Turin: State Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (Galleria Civica d’arte moderna e contemporanea)

Thanks to the GAM, the work of Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964), one of the greates artists of the last century, comes back to Turin after 40 years. The first exhibition in the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art was kept in 1959 and was dedicated to some of the masters of Twentieth – Century (De Chirico, Carrà, Campigli). In that occasion 54 paintings by Morandi were shown, paintings coming from three different milanese collections and this event was characterized as a real anthology of the painter – even if it provoked the dissent of the artist. Probably the image of a shy and isolated artist was born in the occasion of that exhibition.
Actually Morandi’s art is an intimist art, and this is confirmed by 39 etchings shown in Turin.

The deep essence of the work of Morandi comes out from the landscapes and the still lives painted from the 20’s to 1964 – when he died. Morandi was influenced by Cézanne, Rousseau, Derain and the great italian artists like Masaccio and Giotto.
In the study situated in via Fondazza (Bologna) he painted an infinite series of still lives, that he repeated as an obsession, paintings all with the same subject: the every day objects as jugs, glasses, bottles which, put in the very centre of the canvas, look as if they were completely immobile.
Morandi is interested in the reality itself that he reproduces in an enigmatic and misterious way.
It’s easy to feel astonished in front of works representig in such a vibrant way naked and anonymous objects which have the force to transmit a deep complexity.
The deafening silence of the canvases has the colors of beige, brown, cream, shades which stun the audience.
The landescapes are spots of earth burned by the sun, rough plasters, flourishing nature. All these works transmit a domestic light – the influence of Corot is strong -, an aspect which astonishes the audience.As the years go by, the style of painting changes, even if the themes remain the same: this is the manifesto of Morandi’s aesthestics. In the GAM exhibition the works of the first period are not present.

The aim of this exhibition is to present to the public the metaphysical and the futurist period, which show the maturity of the artist. So, even if the exhibition isn’t complete, we recommend to visit it. All the images come from GAM Web Site.