Still Life with Pears and Grapes 1927

This is Giorgio Morandi's 'Still Life with Pears and Grapes', an etching. It’s all about these tightly packed fruits, sitting static and solid on the plate. Look closely at the way Morandi has made his marks. It’s this cross-hatching of tiny lines that builds up the tone and the volume of each piece of fruit. The plate almost disappears into the background and the fruit becomes the main event. The grapes stand out. They're in a bunch, a little darker, a bit more defined. Morandi always struck me as someone who was more interested in the process than the product. Think of Chardin, another artist who dedicated his life to still life painting. His work is similar and evokes a real sense of care and consideration. Both explore the quiet beauty in the everyday. With this etching, you feel Morandi relishing the act of looking and then translating it all into marks. It's less about the pears and grapes themselves and more about the joy of making.