Giorgio Morandi Quotes about Art

Giorgio Morandi was a famous Italian painter and printmaker. He is best known for his small still life paintings that explored tone and composition with the use of very few colors or varied subject matter. He painted several landscapes and portraits but mostly stuck to the still life motif throughout his entire career. Morandi has always had a strong following among other artists and could easily be called a “painter’s painter.” Famous Giorgio Morandi artworks include “Metaphysical Still Life”, “Flowers”, “Bottles”, “Monti di Grizzana”, “Fiori”, and most great artworks are simply called “Natura Morta” or Still Life”.

Mini biography: Born Giorgio Morandi on the 20th of July, 1890 in Bologna, Italy. His mother was Maria Maccaferri and his father was Andrea Morandi. Morandi never married or had children and lived with his three sisters: Maria Teresa, Anna and Dina Morandi. The artist died on the 18th of June, 1964 in Bologna, Italy at the age of 73. Morandi is buried at the Certosa di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

List of Famous Giorgio Morandi Art Quotes

A half dozen pictures would just about be enough for the life of an artist, for my life. Giorgio Morandi

I am essentially a painter of the kind of still life composition that communicates a sense of tranquility and privacy, moods which I have always valued above all else. Giorgio Morandi

Though aware of just how hard it will be to attain the distant goal I have glimpsed, I am sustained by the certainty that the path I am following is the right one. I repudiate nothing in my past. Giorgio Morandi

It takes me weeks to make up my mind which group of bottles will go well with a particular colored tablecloth. Giorgio Morandi

Consciousness has always guided me in my work and I am comforted by the knowledge that in all my endeavors, even in the moments of greatest uncertainty, my personality has always managed to come through. Giorgio Morandi

I suppose I remain a believer in Art for Art’s sake rather than in Art for the sake of religion, of social justice or of national glory. Nothing is more alien to me than an art which sets out to serve other purposes than those implied in the work of art in itself. Giorgio Morandi

Among the ancient painters, the Tuscan’s are the ones that interest me more: above all Giotto and Massacio. Of the modern painters I think that Corot, Courbet, Fattori, and Cezanne are the most legitimate heirs to the glorious Italian tradition. Giorgio Morandi

The feelings and images aroused by the visible world are very difficult to express or are perhaps inexpressible with words because they are determined by forms, colors, space and light. Giorgio Morandi

My own desire is to continue to live with a little peace, which is the only thing that still allows me to work. I am sure I am worth much less than what you say. Not out of modesty, believe me. I only wish it were as you say. If you could, please avoid the comparison with Picasso. Giorgio Morandi

What interests me most is expressing what’s in nature, in the visible world, that is. Giorgio Morandi

When most Italian artists of my own generation were afraid to be too ‘modern,’ too ‘international’ in their style, not ‘national’ or ‘imperial’ enough, I was still left in peace, perhaps because I demanded so little recognition. My privacy was thus my protection and, in the eyes of the Grand Inquisitors of Italian art, I remained a provincial professor of etching, at the Fine Art Academy in Bologna. Giorgio Morandi

Giorgio Morandi Self Portrait Painting

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Related or similar popular artists and celebrities include: Margaret Olley, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Amedeo Modigliani, and other Famous Italian Artists.