Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 - June 18, 1964) was born on July 20, 1890, in Bologna, Italy, one of the oldest and most prestigious University towns in Europe. Nearly all his life was spent there working quietly in a modest studio and apartment that he shared with his three sisters. Except for occasional trips to Venice, Florence or Rome for exhibitions of his paintings and etchings, or summer excursions to the village of Grizzana in the Apennine hills above his native city, Morandi scarcely ever left Bologna. He was exceptionally tall, thoughtful, and soft spoken, and notwithstanding his low-key public profile—Morandi agreed to only two published interviews, both toward the end of his life—his paintings came to be known and in demand throughout Europe and North and South America.