It’s easy to conjure up a work by Giorgio Morandi. Close your eyes and a nature morte immediately takes shape: a lopsided pitcher, perhaps, executed in fluffy paint strokes and a muted color palette. Before landing on his distinctive style, which borrowed heavily from Cézanne, Morandi studied from 1907 to 1913 at Bologna’s Accademia di Belle Arti, where he learned how to etch by studying Rembrandt in books. He entered the army in 1915, but was soon discharged due to a breakdown. Morandi abandoned lofty painting principles and instead focused on work that was pure in form. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 50 Morandi paintings and works on paper, loaned by the Magnani-Rocca Foundation, are on view in the U.K. for the first time. —Elena Clavarino