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| Natura morta (Still Life), 1952 Oil on canvas 16 1/8 x 18 1/8 inches (41 x 46 cm) Framed: 22 1/16 x 24 3/16 x 2 3/16 inches (56 x 61.5 x 5.5 cm) Private Collection © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome |
I just don’t get it.
I really don’t mind Morandi. He
is okay. Nearly everyone I meet raves
and raves on end about him…nearly everyone but me. To hear people talk, you would think he has
been unofficially promoted as a modern master.
It’s not just artists, but even critics are jumping on that
bandwagon. I am a skeptic. I want to go see his work and be enveloped in
the spectacle of magical art. There no
drama. There is no wave of fresh idea or
crescendo of prophetic paint handling. There
are no subliminal color relationships being explored or nearly impossible to
define drawn perspectives to behold. Morandi
isn’t painting or recording the fleeting movement of light. Morandi just is. And it isn’t.
I have gone to see three of his shows in the last 7 years. I have seen drawings, paintings, and
etchings. I know the back story. Every time I went I heard rave reviews anticipated
seeing work that would blow me away. I just can’t get excited about this work nor
can I understand the deeply devoted followers of his genius that continue to
grow in numbers. I see inconsistently
drawn combinations of the same gaggle of inanimate objects in every shade of
dirty turp gray possible, in low light, in thin paint, and in shallow space. I see a platform for the modern celebration
of mediocrity. I think he is okay. He is just not great in my opinion. Please go down to David Zwirner on 20th
street anytime through December 19th and see the show. You might be blown away…then again, maybe
not.
http://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibition/giorgio-morandi/
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