Perhaps I will have photographs taken of the still life with the round table and of the other with oranges and the [piece of] furniture behind. - Giorgio Morandi

I have been fortunate enough to lead.. ..an uneventful life. Only on very rare occasions have I ever left Bologna, my native city, and the surrounding province of Emilia. Only twice, for instance, have I been abroad.. .Besides, I speak only my native language, as you see, and read only Italian periodicals.. .When I was in my early twenties, my highest ambition was to go abroad study art in Paris.. ..the material difficulties involved were too great, and I was obliged to remain in Italy. Later I had too many responsibilities, with my teaching and my family [his sisters he lived with] and never managed to go abroad.

Quote in Morandi's letter of 14 Oct. 1919 to the Futurist painter Carlo Carrà; as cited in Morandi 1894 – 1964, ed: M. C. Bandera & R. Miracco, Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, 2008; p. 92

..it is only in this way, or almost, that a portrait can be painted today [because] all the things punt into the picture have the same importance, they are in the right place.