One of the most admired Italian artists of the 20th century, Morandi, a painter and printmaker, concentrated almost exclusively on still lifes and landscapes. Working in his studio in Bologna which he rarely left for long, he would depict the same familiar bottles, vases and boxes again and again, in works notable for their refined elegance. In his use of repetitive motifs and in the simplicity of his compositions which often approach abstraction, Morandi is seen as an important forerunner of 20th century Minimalism.