Giorgio Morandi

C. Carabelli, Florence
E. Jesi, Milan
Galleria dell'Annunciata, Milan
Private Collection, Milan (acquired from the above in the 1960s)
Private Collection, Milan (by descent from the above and sold: Sotheby's, Milan, May 25, 2011, lot 20)
Tornabuoni Arte, Florence
Acquired from the above in 2012

Lamberto Vitali, Morandi, Dipinti, Catalogo generale, volume primo 1913/1947, Milan, 1994, no. 368, illustrated n.p. (dated 1942)

Canvas is not lined. There is some minor frame abrasion around the extreme perimeter. Under UV light there are a few scattered strokes of inpainting along the right edge as well as a few pindot retouches in foreground at bottom center and a few dots in the background at upper center. There are also a few small strokes in the bowl at far left, otherwise fine. This work is in overall good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Natura morta is a brilliant example of Morandi's mastery of the still life and of the virtuosity with which he combined the simplest forms with a monochrome palette into a perfectly balanced composition. The still life motif, which remained central to Morandi's art throughout his career, was always guided by his concern to unify space, light, color and form, and his great achievement was to reconcile this traditional genre with the abstract aesthetic. Focusing his artistic efforts on a limited range of subjects, he was able to perfect these pictorial concerns to their purest expression.

Morandi's oeuvre introduces us to a world where silence reigns and time is suspended. There is an overwhelming universality to his work: these cups and jars are containers that have existed since time began. Marilena Pasquali has argued that time for Morandi "is a primary, ineluctable dimension: it is duration, first and foremost, and then invention, gamble, daring. In the reality of phenomena, he seeks the lasting, the unchanging, the illusion of an immobile time. Change, continuous and unstoppable, is in him knowingly as he reflects himself in the object in his studio, making them each time different because it is he, instant by instant, who is different and thus sees what is in front of him with new eyes" (quoted in Giorgio Morandi, Through Light (exhibition catalogue), Imago Art Gallery, London, 2009, p. 22).