In the history of 20th-century figurative art, the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi stands out as a highly individual artist, capturing the simple beauty of light on forms through deft brushwork and subtle coloration. This volume brings together some 110 of his most important works, executed in a variety of techniques. Morandi stood aloof from the intellectual turmoil and aesthetic experiments of the 20th century. While other artists moved to Paris, Morandi rarely left his native Bologna. For his needs, a limited number of simple, everyday objects were sufficient. His initial fascination for Impressionism, Cézanne’s still lifes and landscapes, and Cubism, melted into a poetic world of his own. The artist, who had once been called a 'bottle painter', gained worldwide recognition after the end of World War II. Eschewing literary and symbolic content, he arranged bottles, vessels, vases, and jugs in ever new compositions or portrayed the view from his backyard in Bologna from different angles.