Morandi is considered one of the greatest etchers of the 20th century. His masterful handling of line equals the subtlety and complexity of the color relationships in his paintings. Morandi's etchings were published in small editions and are extremely rare.

The Art Center's print comes from Morandi's most significant period as an etcher, 1927-33. Appointed Professor of Etching at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Bologna in 1930, Morandi largely abandoned painting during this period to explore his formal concerns in the medium of etching. In these six years Morandi made 75 etchings out of his lifetime total of about 135 prints.

Large Still Life with Coffee Pot  is a typical Morandi composition, depicting a group of 13 objects on a table. These bottles, cannisters, pitchers, vases and shells, found in the junk shops of his native Bologna, recur in many of Morandi's other works.  In this etching, Morandi draws filtering veils of parallel and cross-hatched lines that catch the lights and shadows.

Source: Bulletin/News, July-Aug, 1986.