1890
Giorgio Morandi is born in Bologna on July 20, the first of five children.

1907
Enters the Academy of Fine Arts (Accademia di Belle Arti) in Bologna, which he attends until 1913.

1909
Befriends Osvaldo Licini, a fellow student at the Academy, and visits the 8th Venice Biennale. Sees for the first time paintings by Cézanne, which are reproduced in the volume The French Impressionists (Gl'impressionisti francesi) by Vittorio Pica and follows the writings of Ardengo Soffici in La voce magazine.

1910
Visits the 9th Venice Biennale, which takes place only a year after the previous one; sees paintings by, among others, Renoir, to whom an entire gallery is dedicated. A trip to Florence allows Morandi to study Giotto, Masaccio, and Paolo Uccello.

1911
Sees original works by Monet for the first time at the International Exposition in Rome. Date of Morandi's first surviving work (Paesaggio [Landscape], V. 2).

1912
Prints his first limited-edition etching, titled The Bridge on the Savena in Bologna (Il ponte sul Savena a Bologna, V. inc. 1).

1913
Leaves the Academy in Bologna and paints his first landscapes of Grizzana; gets to know the Bacchelli brothers—the writer Riccardo and the painter Mario. In the spring attends the Futurist Evening (Serata futurista) in Modena.

1914
In January visits the Exposition of Futurist Painting in Florence, organized by the magazine Lacerba, and attends the Futurist Evening at the Teatro del Corso in Bologna, where he meets Umberto Boccioni and Carlo Carrà.
On March 20 participates in a one-day exhibition at the Hotel Baglioni in Bologna, along with Mario Bacchelli, Osvaldo Licini, Severo Pozzati, and Giacomo Vespignani.
Participates in the First Free Futurist Exposition (Prima esposizione libera futurista) at the Sprovieri Gallery in Rome and in the Second Exposition of the Secession (Seconda esposizione della secessione), where he sees a selection of watercolors by Cézanne and several paintings by Matisse.
Studies Giotto, first in Assisi and then in Padua.
Begins to teach drawing in elementary schools, a position he holds until 1930.

1915
Drafted into the Second Regiment of Grenadiers but falls gravely ill and is indefinitely discharged from the military.

1916
Spends the summer in Tolè di Vergato in the Apennines and devotes himself to painting.

1917
Paints very few works on account of a grave illness.

1918
The Bolognese magazine La raccolta, published by Giuseppe Raimondi, reproduces the etching Still Life with Bottle and Pitcher (Natura morta con bottiglia e brocca) of 1915 (V. inc. 3).
Through his friendship with Raimondi, Morandi is introduced to the work of Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà and paints his first "metaphysical" works.
Comes to know Mario Broglio, who during this year founds the magazine Valori plastici (Plastic Values). The first critical acclaim for Morandi's work appears in the daily Il tempo in a review written by Riccardo Bacchelli.

1919
Morandi's first paintings are published in La raccolta and in Valori plastici. Mario Broglio begins to collect his work and makes him better known to the public. He meets Carrà, who visits his studio. In Rome, where he joins Raimondi, he comes to know de Chirico and the scholars of La Ronda and studies works by Caravaggio in churches and museums.

1920
Visits the Venice Biennale, where he sees the gallery dedicated to Cézanne in the French Pavilion. Resumes his etching activity, which he had interrupted in 1915.

1921
Exhibits alongside Carrà, de Chirico, Martini, Melli, and Zadkine at the first exhibition of the Valori plastici group, organized by Mario Broglio in Berlin.

1922
Participates with Carrà, de Chirico, and Martini in the Fiorentina primaverile in Florence and is introduced in the catalogue by Giorgio de Chirico.

1926
Three paintings by Morandi are included in the Prima Mostra del Novecento (First Exhibit of the Twentieth Century), which takes place in the Palazzo della Permanente in Milan.
The National Bureau of Culture appoints him to serve for one year as director of elementary schools in various small centers in the provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

1927
Spends the summer in Grizzana, in the Apennine Mountains of Emilia Romagna, where he returns every summer until 1932. Intensifies his etching activity.

1928
Participates in the 16th Venice Biennale with several etchings. His brief "Autobiografia" is published in the magazine L'assalto in Bologna. Mino Maccari and Leo Longanesi write about him.

1929
Participates in the Seconda Mostra del Novecento in Milan with three paintings, three etchings, and two drawings.

1930
Appointed professor of etching technique at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, a post he holds until 1956.
Participates in the 17th Venice Biennale with three paintings, two etchings, and one etching portfolio, and in an exhibition of etchings at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

1931
Participates in the First Quadrennial of National Art in Rome with three paintings and several etchings.

1932
Participates in the First Exhibition of Modern Italian Etching in Florence. The magazine L'Italiano, published by Leo Longanesi, dedicates a special edition to Morandi with an essay by Ardengo Soffici and numerous reproductions of paintings, etchings, and drawings.

1934
Participates in the 19th Venice Biennale with two etchings. In November Roberto Longhi concludes his famous introductory address at the University of Bologna, naming Morandi "one of the best living painters in Italy."

1935
Takes part in the Second Quadrennial of National Art in Rome with four paintings and two etchings. Represented in the Exhibit of Ancient and Modern Italian Art in Paris.

1937
Participates in the Exhibition of Italian Art in Berlin.

1938
Participates in the Exhibition of Italian Art in Bern.
On October 15, recommended by Ardengo Soffici, Morandi is nominated Corresponding Member of the Academy of Design, the oldest academy in Florence, founded in 1563 by Giorgio Vasari.

1939
Has a dedicated gallery displaying forty-two paintings, nine etchings, and two drawings at the Third Quadrennial of National Art in Rome, where he receives the second prize for painting following Bruno Saetti.
Submits his paintings to the Golden Gate International Exhibition of Contemporary Art in San Francisco and to the Carnegie Prize in Pittsburgh.
Art historian Cesare Brandi writes an essay about Morandi in Le arti, and Arnaldo Beccaria publishes the first monograph on the artist.
In the summer returns to Grizzana, where he paints intensively during several long summer sojourns.

1940
Participates in the Exhibition of Italian Art in Zurich.

1942
Cesare Brandi publishes an important monograph on the artist.

1943
Participates in the Fourth Quadrennial of National Art in Rome. Is forced by the war to leave Bologna and take refuge in Grizzana, where he remains until July 25, 1944. During this period Morandi paints numerous landscapes.

1945
In April Roberto Longhi—not knowing whether Morandi, isolated by the war in Bologna, was alive or not—dedicates an exhibition to him in Florence, recently liberated by Allied forces, displaying twenty-one paintings at the Galleria Il Fiore and introducing him with an essential text.
Pier Maria Bardi organizes an exhibition of fifty paintings by Morandi at the Studio d'Arte Palma in Rome.

1947
Morandi is nominated a member of the Commission of Figurative Arts and is responsible for organizing the next major Venice Biennale, which reopens its doors in 1948 after a six-year hiatus.

1948
Exhibits eleven paintings at the 24th Venice Biennale as part of the exhibition "Three Italian Painters from 1910 to 1920," alongside Carrà and de Chirico, and receives the prize of the Commune of Venice, which is awarded to an Italian painter by an international committee. He is nominated a member of the National Academy of San Luca in Rome.
Carlo Alberto Petrucci presents an exhibition of eighty-eight etchings by Morandi at the Calcografia Nazionale in Rome.

1949
Thirteen paintings and five etchings by Morandi are included in the seminal exhibition "Twentieth-Century Italian Art," organized by James Thrall Soby and Alfred Barr at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Raimondi organizes an exhibition dedicated to Morandi's etchings at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

1950
Exhibits at the Musée National d'Art Moderne of Paris and at the Tate Gallery in London and receives a prize at the International Exhibition of Black and White in Lugano.

1952
A work by Morandi is included in the major exhibition "La nature morte de l'antiquité à nos jours," organized by Charles Sterling and held at the Orangerie in Paris.
Morandi is nominated a member of the Swedish Academy.

1953
Receives the Grand Prize for Etching at the Second Biennale of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo in Brazil, where he is represented with twenty-five etchings.

1954
Vitale Bloch and Lamberto Vitali dedicate an anthological exhibition to Morandi with fifty-nine paintings and forty-three etchings, presented first at the Gemeentemuseum at The Hague and then at the New Burlington Galleries in London.

1955
Participates with seven paintings in the Seventh Quadrennial of National Art in Rome. His first solo exhibition in New York is held at the Delius Gallery. He is interviewed by Peppino Mangravite, professor at Columbia University, and the conversation is broadcast on the Voice of America in 1957.

1956
Goes to Winterthur for an exhibition of fifty-six paintings, four drawings, and forty etchings that the Kunstmuseum dedicates to him, placing him alongside Giacomo Manzù. Visits the collection of Oskar Reinhart.

1957
The Venice Biennale organizes the Sala Especial at the Fourth International Biennale in São Paulo, Brazil, featuring thirty paintings by Morandi, with an introductory essay in the catalogue by Rodolfo Palluchini. He receives the Gran Premio for painting, preceding Marc Chagall.
Six paintings and six etchings are included in the exhibition Italian Art of 1910 at the Grosse Kunstausstellung in Munich.
Exhibits thirty-five paintings, two watercolors, ten drawings, and thirteen etchings at the World House Galleries in New York, presented by Lionello Venturi.
Lamberto Vitali oversees his general catalogue Graphic Works.

1958
Gives an important interview to Edouard Roditi, which is published in 1960.
Exhibits twelve etchings at the Fifth International Exhibition of Black and White in Lugano.

1960
A second exhibition dedicated to Morandi opens at the World House Galleries in New York.

1962
The city of Siegen in Germany devotes an exhibition to Morandi, displaying nineteen paintings and thirteen etchings at the Haus Seel am Markt, and gives him the Rubens Prize for painting.
He is nominated an Honorary Scholar at the Academy of Design in Florence.

1963
Awarded L'Archiginnasio d'Oro prize by the Comune di Bologna.
The Galerie Krugier of Geneva organizes an exhibition of forty-one paintings, seven drawings, and sixty-five etchings by Morandi.

1964
In January the monograph by Lamberto Vitali is published.
In February Morandi signs his last still life (Natura morta) (V. 1342).
The artist dies on June 18.
In July Francesco Arcangeli's indispensable monograph on Morandi is published.

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