Il Ponte sul Savena a Bologna (Vitali 1)

This -- Morandi's first -- etching was completed while the artist was still a student at the Bologna Academy of Fine Arts in 1912. Printmaking later became an integral part of his oeuvre and played an essential role in his rigorous exploration of light, composition and representation. Here, the hills and cultivated areas surrounding Morandi's native Bologna are treated with the same sensitivity to light and rigorous approach to composition that would later mark his signature still-life subject matter.