Giorgio Morandi

The collection of works by Giorgio Morandi selected by Antonio and Matilde Catanese belongs to the tradition of great Milanese collectors who had a far-sighted view of the painter, acquiring his works in the 1930s and becoming among the first to contribute to his fame. The Morandi’s works in the Catanese collection are a microcosm of the artist’s oeuvre, thanks to the number of works, their chronological spread covering almost all the years of the artist’s activity, the techniques used to create them, their themes, their place in collecting history and, most importantly, their artistic importance, rendering the collection well suited for deciphering and understanding Morandi’s work. The group includes 15 paintings made between 1914 and 1959 and three watercolours representing the distinctive themes of his work indicated by anodyne titles: Still Life, Landscape, Flowers and, most importantly, a Self-Portrait dated 1914 by Morandi. Another integral part of the collection is the almost complete series of etchings, showing the collectors’ embrace of the technique that Morandi practised in parallel to painting and that cannot be separated from it. The works have been the subject of scientific investigations, preliminary to restoration and conservation, conducted by the University of Urbino, the results of which are presented here. Texts by: Cristina Bandera, Luca Cecchetto, Mariella Gnani, Buccolini Federica, Paolo Triolo, Sabrina Burattini, Laura Valentini. Text in English and Italian.