Hermit master of still life

Ma notes that Morandi, unlike many other artists, did not have favored colors to work with. Rather, the Italian was famous for his unique handling of colors that often featured muted tones and pale shades.

Such colors are particularly popular today thanks in part to picture-sharing social media sites. Similar hues like pale green, blue and grayish pink are also widely used in interior decoration and fashion design.

The Morandi colors－of a muted and pale color palette－were highlighted in China in 2018, when the blockbuster television series Story of Yanxi Palace based the colors of its costumes, settings and lighting on this unique system.

Today, "Morandi color system" is a common search term on Chinese lifestyle apps and social media platforms, such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin. Such colors can be seen on not just clothes, but also wallpapers, furniture, cars and nail polish.

Hu Pengfei, an art scholar and video blogger, explains why the color system has become popular. He describes the system as "the most comfortable color coordination in the world" in one of his videos.

"Morandi hardly used bright colors. Each block of color in Morandi's paintings was muted and neutral. These colors, if used alone, would seem lifeless and dull, but the artist matched them so nicely that they looked low-key, high-class and natural," says Hu.

"The Morandi palette avoided any strong or bright colors, and added adequate amounts of gray or white to each color. Such refined aesthetics made the subjects of his paintings distinctive. There is nothing sharp or extravagant, which could easily cause aesthetic fatigue for the audience, on his palette. Nor is it grim or cold. It creates the perfect visual balance, which makes the fashion world love it.

"Designers worldwide have constantly searched for the best interpretation of Morandi colors, and in 2018 the trend reached a new height. In the past few years, China's fashion industry has kept abreast of this trend, which has greatly influenced Chinese fashion and aesthetics."