Picasso, Morandi, Parmiggiani: Still Lifes
A quiet convergence of three masters exploring the soul of everyday objects through shadow, soot, and structural deconstruction.

Image credit
Claudio Parmiggiani, Senza titolo [detail], 2019, smoke and soot on panel, 121 × 121 cm, Courtesy Tornabuoni Art.
Meet the artist
The Movement
Contemporary Art, PaintingArtLovers Tip
Look closely at the Morandi section for the objects he repainted himself before depicting them on canvas; it reveals his obsession with controlling every aspect of light and form.
Exhibition Highlights - What you’ll see
This exhibition brings together the analytical rigor of Pablo Picasso, the meditative repetition of Giorgio Morandi, and the ethereal smoke-shadows of Claudio Parmiggiani. Set against the backdrop of the Venice Biennale, the show traces how the humble still life—a bottle, a vase, a skull—serves as a laboratory for understanding time and absence. It marks a rare dialogue between Morandi's dusty studio shelves and Picasso's restless pictorial reinvention.
You're watching the physical remnants of an artist's process, where fourteen Picasso masterpieces meet Morandi's curated clusters of carafes and vases. The atmosphere is one of profound stillness, punctuated by Parmiggiani's Delocazione works where smoke and soot leave ghostly imprints of objects on the walls. The scale shifts from the intimate domesticity of Morandi's own studio items to the bold, fragmented canvases of Picasso, all bathed in the soft, reflective light of Venice.
Worth the trip
- Studio Secrets: For the first time, a selection of Morandi's personal studio objects, including dried flowers and carafes, is on public display.
- Rare Rediscoveries: View a 1945 Morandi painting that has not returned to Venice since the 1962 Biennale, alongside a singular 1914 Cubist masterpiece.
- Site-Specific Poetry: Experience a monumental Delocazione created specifically for this venue by Claudio Parmiggiani, capturing the intersection of smoke and memory.
How to experience it
Move slowly between the rooms to feel the spiritual kinship between Parmiggiani and his mentor Morandi. Focus on the textures—the grit of soot versus the smoothness of oil paint. After leaving the Galleria di Piazza San Marco, walk toward the Giudecca canal at sunset; the fading light on the water mirrors the themes of disappearance and lingering shadows found within the galleries.
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