GIORGIO MORANDI | Paesaggio (Landscape)

John J. Mayers, Bronxville, New York (acquired by 1957)
Galleria Falsetti, Prato
Galleria Gissi, Turin
N. Mobilio, Florence
Private Collection, Milan
Acquired before 1990 by the present owner

New York, World House Galleries, Giorgio Morandi, Retrospective 1912-1957, 1957, no. 2
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Centro d'Arte Dolomiti, Omaggio a Giorgio Morandi, 1969-70, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue

Lamberto Vitali, Morandi, Dipinti, Catalogo generale, vol. I, Milan, 1983, no. 468, illustrated n.p.

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is unlined. Surface is clean with the exception of a few tiny surface stains at center near top edge. A pindot loss to the canvas in the middle on the right edge. Under UV light some scattered pindots of retouchng fluoresce, primarily around the extreme perimeter, otherwise fine.
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.

Known primarily as a painter of still lifes, Giorgio Morandi also held a strong affinity for landscape painting, a genre he explored frequently throughout his career. He generally depicted the countryside around Bologna, specifically around Grizzana, a small town where he spent his summers and to which he retreated during World War II. The present work was painted in 1943 and is a perfectly executed example of the artist’s supreme faithfulness to light, shadow and his characteristically monochrome palette, all of which contribute to a prevailing sense of tranquility. Compositionally similar to many of his still lifes, Paesaggio explores the spatial relationship between two central structures and the surrounding foliage, foreground and hazy distance. In both landscape and still life, Morandi was consistently guided by his concern to bring together space, light, color and form, and his great achievement was reconciling traditional genres with the abstracted aesthetic of his own time.

Morandi was arguably the most successful Italian painter of his generation and, like other painters of the period, he viewed the Italian Renaissance Art with fresh eyes, simultaneously conscious of the legacy of tradition as well as the regional and rustic aspects of his cultural heritage. Morandi's unique aesthetic is also indebted to the legacy of Paul Cézanne, whose individual way of seeing encouraged Morandi to discover the simple geometric solidity of everyday objects and spaces. By pursuing an aesthetic beyond the limitations of place and time, Morandi became heir to a "classical" purist tradition of Italian painting.