Still Life 1918

This understated still life painting was made by Giorgio Morandi, who spent a lifetime quietly arranging bottles and boxes and bowls. It’s a muted symphony of greys, whites, and creams, like a memory fading into the background, but there's such care in the brushstrokes, such an attention to the way light falls. Look at how he's built up the surface, layering thin washes of paint, the canvas almost breathing beneath. The edges of the forms are blurred, not quite defined, and the shadows they cast are soft and subtle. Then, at the bottom right, notice the signature, scrawled delicately as a final, almost hesitant touch. Morandi's work always reminds me of Agnes Martin, another artist who found endless possibilities within a limited range. Both show that art isn’t about grand gestures but about seeing the world with a quiet, attentive eye. What do you see?