Playground: Giorgio Morandi: work

One of my heroes: Giorgio Morandi, the man who became famous for (mainly) still lifes that truly live up to their name: I have rarely seen still lifes as serene as his.

It’s also wonderful that one can remain so fascinated, for a lifetime, by a subject as seemingly mundane as the still life – vases, jars, very simple objects. Objects that are painted not so much as objects, but rather as forms. What appeals to me most is the attention his work exudes: any object can be the subject of the work, as long as you treat it with care. A kind of modern animism: objects come to life, are breathed into by being looked at attentively. They take on a character, becoming like a character in a play.    

Klaas Gubbels is another such artist who has remained faithful to the same theme throughout his life: the coffee pot. It appears in all sorts of contexts, yet remains the same object, albeit always slightly different.