Giorgio Morandi, a major exhibition of works by the Italian still life painter (1890-1964), opened at Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum on Saturday and will run to Oct 9. It features 51 original artworks, including 39 oil paintings and four watercolor pieces, from the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the Morandi Museum in Bologna, Italy, as well as the private Giovanardi Collection. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Morandi's muted colors manage to grab attention as the Italian artist continues to influence lifestyles, Zhang Kun reports.

The first major exhibition of works by Italian still life painter Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) in Shanghai is currently underway.

The exhibition opened at Jiushi Art Museum on Saturday and will run until Oct 9. With the support of the Italian consulate in Shanghai, the exhibition is a highlight of the 2022 Italy-China Year of Culture and Tourism.

According to the exhibition curator, Stefano Zuffi, the showcase features 51 original artworks, including 39 oil paintings, four watercolor pieces, two sketches and four lithographic prints from the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the Morandi Museum in Bologna, Italy, as well as the private Giovanardi Collection.

Zuffi describes Morandi as one of the most intimate and poetic expressionists of European art in the central decades of the 20th century.

A visitor frames a Morandi landscape painting at Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Born in Bologna in 1890, Morandi studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna where he later taught. Although his works have been showcased around the world, the artist was known as a recluse who hardly traveled beyond his hometown of Bologna.

"We could hardly find any stories or anecdotes about him," Ma Zhenzheng, the executive curator of the exhibition, tells China Daily. "Morandi lived like a hermit. He didn't have much of a social life, and spent almost his entire career of over 50 years at his studio in Bologna."

Most of Morandi's paintings feature everyday objects, such as bottles, cups, tins and glasses.

The reason for this, says Ma, stems from the artist's desire to shun complexity and embrace the nature of the existence of such things, and create "a spiritual realm of tranquility, harmony and ease".

[Photo provided to China Daily]

In the first chapter of the exhibition, visitors will get to view his creations from 1910 to '20s that were influenced by cubism and postimpressionism.

Ma also points out that audiences would be able to spot methods used by Renaissance masters that were adopted by Morandi.

From 1930 to the '40s, Morandi's growing maturity was reflected in his art. During the period, his subjects were more closely positioned and featured large spaces around them.

"Morandi's poetic and meticulous patience, his ability to concentrate, almost identifying himself with a modest accord of small things, was born almost secretly and preciously," according to Zuffi, who is also an author and art historian.

"His paintings emerge from the dynamics of groups, avant-gardes, trends and fashions.

"He is not even affected by the shocking facts of politics, or of the changing world.

"This is an opportunity to showcase Morandi's paintings to an audience of another culture, in the belief that the inner discipline, the grace of feelings and the delicate harmony of colors will touch the sensitivity of visitors."

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Ma notes that Morandi, unlike many other artists, did not have favored colors to work with. Rather, the Italian was famous for his unique handling of colors that often featured muted tones and pale shades.

Such colors are particularly popular today thanks in part to picture-sharing social media sites. Similar hues like pale green, blue and grayish pink are also widely used in interior decoration and fashion design.

The Morandi colors－of a muted and pale color palette－were highlighted in China in 2018, when the blockbuster television series Story of Yanxi Palace based the colors of its costumes, settings and lighting on this unique system.

Today, "Morandi color system" is a common search term on Chinese lifestyle apps and social media platforms, such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin. Such colors can be seen on not just clothes, but also wallpapers, furniture, cars and nail polish.

Hu Pengfei, an art scholar and video blogger, explains why the color system has become popular. He describes the system as "the most comfortable color coordination in the world" in one of his videos.

"Morandi hardly used bright colors. Each block of color in Morandi's paintings was muted and neutral. These colors, if used alone, would seem lifeless and dull, but the artist matched them so nicely that they looked low-key, high-class and natural," says Hu.

"The Morandi palette avoided any strong or bright colors, and added adequate amounts of gray or white to each color. Such refined aesthetics made the subjects of his paintings distinctive. There is nothing sharp or extravagant, which could easily cause aesthetic fatigue for the audience, on his palette. Nor is it grim or cold. It creates the perfect visual balance, which makes the fashion world love it.

"Designers worldwide have constantly searched for the best interpretation of Morandi colors, and in 2018 the trend reached a new height. In the past few years, China's fashion industry has kept abreast of this trend, which has greatly influenced Chinese fashion and aesthetics."

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Hu says the Morandi palette has something in common with traditional Chinese art－both feature a low saturation of color.

"Seven books of ancient Chinese painting collections were found in the former residence of Morandi, and Balthus, a European artist, once said Morandi was closer to China than any other artists in Europe," Hu says.

Hu claims Morandi's color system "was possibly inspired by Chinese art from the Song Dynasty (960-1279)".

But the Italian artist masterfully created his own style by marrying these colors with postimpressionism and cubism.

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum 6F, House of Roosevelt, 27 No 1 Zhongshan Road East, Huangpu district, Shanghai.