Passegiata in Via Fondazza

Giorgio Morandi used to teach sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and he loved this city. He used to like to stroll around the streets, taking in everything around him and then sit in Piazza Maggiore. His studio was on Via Fondazza at n.36; one of the last sidestreets off Strada Maggiore. When he lived there, in the 1920s, the street was a very different place, full of artisans and prostitutes. Morandi used to go down into the street to paint. He painted with red paints and used straw from the street and the houses in his paintings. He painted public squares and made portraits for ordinary people. He used to buy plain objects in the markets and then paint still lifes from them. It is still a real pleasure to walk down his old street. Much has faded but something of the old magic is still there.