Customer Reviews

Morandi: Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Etchings (Monographs)

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The colour reproductions of Morandi's oil Paintings are very disappointing. The prints didn't "live " at all and have lost the subtlety of colour that characterises Morandi's work. There is little or no depth to the colour. Morandi's deep toned accents suffer and appear thin. Those marvellous flashes of apricot/orange are maddenly deadened. There is often an overbalance of a greenish ochre in the colour print. The textural quality of Morandi's brushwork is curiously flattened and lifeless.

Fortunately the Watercolours, drawings and etchings have not suffered to the same extent: although I cannot believe the grey cast that is given to what must have frequently been a variety of white papers.

Good text. Informative photographs but overall a disappointing purchase - especially in NZ dollars.

If you have had the opportunity to see the (out-of-print) show catalogue (Giorgio Morandi: [catalogue of] an exhibition of paintings, water-colours, drawings and etchings) this skimpy overview will not only disappoint, it also will not whet your appetite for more of this insightful artist's oeuvre.

The great strength of this book is its inclusive nature and the quality of printing. Morandi, like many painters, worked out in drawing what would he would find later in the paintings, his best known medium. There are enough water-colors and etchings to enhance the understanding of his paintings by featuring his interests in color and tone in the former, shape and tonal areas in the latter. All these and clearer reproduction (especially of brush strokes, surface textures) make it a better buy than the also useful K. Wilkin book on Morandi. Morandi fans won't mind owning both books; even among the paintings there is not great overlap in particular works. Where there is a double, the differences help remind you of the limitations of reproductions, no matter what book they're in. (PS the Morandi Museum in Bologna, Italy is worth a trip to that city in itself.)