Still Life 1919

Giorgio Morandi made this still life, probably with oil on canvas, though it's so subtle it's hard to tell for sure. The colour is muted, almost grey – like he mixed a little of every colour into every other. Up close, you can see he's built up the paint in layers, creating a kind of hazy atmosphere. There's something about the way Morandi handles paint that makes you want to slow down, to really look. Look at the way he's described the shadows, not as dark patches, but as soft, enveloping presences. It reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin, in the sense of quiet contemplation, of finding the sublime in the everyday. But where Martin is all about openness, Morandi is more inward, more about the intimacy of seeing. And, like all great art, it's ultimately about the mystery of being. The longer you look, the more questions arise, and that's the beauty of it.