Giorgio Morandi was born in Bologna, Italy in 1890. He lived his entire life in Bologna in an apartment with three unmarried sisters. He never married. Although early in his career he had contributed paintings that demonstrate purely formal interests, he soon realized that his true metier was philosophy. In the early 1920s he was briefly allied with deChirico as a "metaphysical painter" of strange objects in false perspective. But he was clearly uncomfortable with the stark drama of DeChirico's style.

Morandi began his process of creation by collecting empty bottles, jugs, boxes, vases and other containers. There is undoubtedly significance in his choice of objects originally designed to enclose or support other things. His studio wa...