Still Life (The Blue Vase) 1920

Giorgio Morandi made this still life with oil paint, and at first glance it has a very muted, limited palette, which actually makes it kind of loud, in a quiet way. Look closely, and you will see how the thick paint has been dragged around, like he's sculpting with it. There's a sense of improvisation, of working right into the surface. Notice the way he's described the blue vase of the title – it’s not just blue, it's got these almost metallic, goldy bits, with these decorative emblems. The way he's used the paint here, it's this really clotted, worked-over surface, and, the surrounding tones are quite muted, but the paint itself is physically present. Morandi reminds me a little bit of Philip Guston actually, they both have this really reduced subject matter, and they're both just so into the materiality of paint. Both really focused on the way the paint can build up on the surface, and take on a life of its own, outside of any kind of illusionism. What I love about this is that it's so open ended, the artist lets the painting be what it is.