GIORGIO MORANDI | NATURA MORTA
Estimate:
750,000 - 1,000,000 EUR
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT TUSCAN COLLECTION
Estimate:
750,000 - 1,000,000 EUR
Lot sold:
1,452,500
EUR
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT TUSCAN COLLECTION
GIORGIO MORANDI
1890 - 1964
NATURA MORTA
signed
oil on canvas
Executed in 1951
(firmato
olio su tela
Eseguito nel 1951)
cm 37.8x43,1x2,4; inches 14.88 by 16.53 by 16.96 by 0.94
Framed (con cornice): cm 64.6x69.8x5.7; inches 25.43 by 27.48 by 2.24
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The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.
Galleria del Milione, Milan
Riccardo and Magda Jucker Collection, Milan
Galleria Marescalchi, Bologna
Vito Toffano Collection, Padua
Galleria Farsetti, Florence
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner in the early 2000s
Lamberto Vitali, Giorgio Morandi pittore, Milan, editions 1964-1965 and 1970, n. 197, illustrated
Lamberto Vitali, Morandi. Catalogo generale, volume secondo 1948/1964, Milan 1977, n. 784, illustrated
Berna, Kunsthalle, Giorgio Morandi, 1965, n. 82, illustrated
Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), 1973, pp. 117, 120, n. 83, illustrated in colour
Focette; Cortina d'Ampezzo; Milan, Galleria d'Arte Moderna Farsetti, 'A Prato per vedere Corot', Corrispondenza Morandi-Soffici per un'antologia di Morandi, 1989, n. XX, illustrated in colour
Firenze, Galleria d'Arte Frediano Farsetti, Giorgio Morandi. Pittore di luce e di silenzio, 2011, pp. 104-105, n. 32, illustrated in colour
Giorgio Morandi is an artist who, in that short time span dotted with wars, revolutions and radical changes that was the Twentieth Century, emerges and stands out for his compositional harmonies that speak of a time suspended between dream and reality, between the quotidian realism of substance and the deeper meaning of human existence.
His silent and iconic compositions of bottles and objects are immersed in a reduced but intense chromatic palette, among which browns, whites and rare brighter colours emerge, like sparks in the theatre of everyday life. His works are situated at the apex of all European art, with attention paid to the work of Chardin and Cรฉzanne. Morandi admired the latterโs "gigantic effort to synthesise volume and brightness, the result of which it was a work which began a pictorial renaissance and put future generations on the path of true, eternal classicism by bringing together the benefits of new research and that drawn from the teachings of the past" (Letter from Morandi to Ardengo Soffici). Yet these two masters maintain their independent identity, often exceeding in intensity even the great painters of the past. Wrapped in a timeless aura, at a remove from the wear and tear of time and history, they appear eternal in their simplicity, regulated by a style that, in its constant variations, redefines itself from time to time in a new light. The light that is idiosyncratic to Morandi is a living and active presence, capable of eternally illuminating the humblest objects in the barest room.
Natura Morta from 1951 is part of a group of four works from the same year that show minimal variations around the same composition, one of which is preserved in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (a similar but later version from 1957 is preserved in Fondazione Carraro at Caโ Pesaro): this version is characterised by a delicate shade of pastel blue that joins on the usual palette dominated by greys and browns. This weightless, ethereal and uncommon colour in Morandi's production, expertly placed on the bottle in the centre, seems to open a metaphorical window on the world outside the room and the objects represented. The work fits into the context of the 1950s, which was an important decade for Morandi's career. He had recently had great success in the United States, including exhibitions in important museum institutions, such as the 1949 show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, organised by Alfred Barr and James Thrall Soby, and articles published by famous art magazines. Despite his undeniable fame and success, the Bolognese artist remained always faithful to his shy, meditative and almost philosophical nature, not giving in to the temptations of his well-deserved world-wide fame but rather devoting himself even more forcefully to his work, retreating into the quiet of his studio and his paintings.
In Natura Morta of 1951 we find all the main themes of Morandi's oeuvre, indeed the composition of objects reveals the deep meditations of the Bolognese artist on the multifaceted aspects of human existence in connection with the divine harmony of creation. It is a celebration of the interior, physical space that reflects the interiority of the soul, in which every apparent, minimal change can produce a brand new and unexpected effect. All the while outside his studio the great artistic upheavals of the informal and abstract art were taking place between the wars and the decade following World War Two. Yet Morandi, never involved himself, remaining ever faithful to his aesthetic. For him, the world and all the essence of life and its mystery have but a simple room as their theatre.
Giorgio Morandi รจ un artista che, in quel secolo breve costellato da guerre, rivoluzioni e cambiamenti radicali che fu il 900, emerge e si staglia per unโarmonia compositiva che racconta di un tempo sospeso tra sogno e realtร , tra il realismo quotidiano della materia e il senso piรน profondo dellโesistenza umana. Le sue silenti e iconiche composizioni di bottiglie e oggetti si presentano immerse in una tavolozza cromatica ridotta ma di grande intensitร , tra cui emergono i bruni, i bianchi e rari colori piรน accesi, come scintille nel teatro del quotidiano: le sue opere si pongono allโapice di un percorso che attraversa tutta lโarte europea, con unโattenzione particolare allโopera di Chardin e soprattutto di Cรฉzanne di cui Morandi ammirava โlo sforzo gigantesco di sintetizzare in tutto il senso del volume e della luminositร , il cui risultato รจ stato unโopera la quale, riunendo in sรฉ il buono delle nuove ricerche e quello tratto dagli insegnamenti del passato, inizia una rinascenza pittorica, e metterร le generazioni future sulla strada di un classicismo vero, eternoโ (da una lettera di Morandi ad Ardengo Soffici) ma mantengono sempre una loro identitร totalmente indipendente, spesso superando in intensitร anche i grandi maestri del passato. Avvolte da unโaura atemporale, sottratte al logorio del tempo e della storia, appaiono eterne nella loro semplicitร , regolate da un modulo che, nelle sue costanti variazioni, si mostra di volta in volta sotto una luce nuova, proprio quella luce, cosรฌ tipica di Morandi, che รจ essa stessa presenza viva e attiva, capace di illuminare dโeternitร i piรน umili oggetti e la piรน spoglia stanza.
Natura Morta del 1951 fa parte di un gruppo di quattro opere del medesimo anno che presentano minime variazioni intorno alla stessa composizione, di cui una รจ conservata al Tel Aviv Museum of Art (una composizione simile ma piรน tarda, del 1957, รจ conservata alla Fondazione Carraro a Caโ Pesaro): questa versione รจ caratterizzata dalla delicata tonalitร pastello dellโazzurro che si inserisce sulla consueta tavolozza dominata dai grigi e dai bruni. Un colore leggero, etereo e non comune nella produzione di Morandi, che, apposto sapientemente sulla bottiglia al centro, sembra aprire una metaforica finestra sul mondo al di fuori della stanza e degli oggetti rappresentati. Lโopera si inserisce nel contesto degli anni โ50, che furono un momento importante per la carriera di Morandi: negli Stati Uniti aveva recentemente riscosso grande successo, tra mostre in importanti istituzioni museali โ come quella del 1949 al Museum of Modern Art di New York, organizzata da Alfred Barr e James Thrall Soby โ e articoli pubblicati da celebri riviste di settore. Nonostante lโinnegabile fama e successo, lโartista bolognese rimase perรฒ sempre fedele alla sua natura schiva, meditativa e quasi filosofica, non concedendosi alle tentazioni di una fama ormai mondiale e certamente meritata, ma si dedicรฒ con ancora piรน forza al suo lavoro, ritirandosi nella quietร del suo studio e della sua arte.
In Natura Morta del 1951 sono riscontrabili i principali temi presenti nelle opere di Morandi e lโopera rivela, dietro allโespediente della composizione di oggetti, le profonde meditazioni dellโartista bolognese sui multiformi aspetti dellโesistenza umana, in connessione con la divina armonia del creato. ร la celebrazione dellโโinternoโ, spazio fisico che appare in realtร per la sua vera natura, quella dellโinterioritร dellโanimo, in cui ogni apparente, minimo cambiamento puรฒ produrre un effetto totalmente nuovo e imprevisto. Tutto questo mentre โal di fuoriโ, tra gli anni della guerra e il decennio successivo, si consumano i nuovi, grandi rinnovamenti artistici dellโInformale e dellโastrattismo, da cui perรฒ Morandi, sempre fedele a sรจ stesso, non si fece mai coinvolgere: per lui, il mondo e tutta lโessenza stessa della vita e del suo mistero hanno come teatro una semplice stanza.