Giorgio Morandi, Still Life 1961. Courtesy Abbot Hall.

Perhaps not as well know as Modigliani or even de Chirico, Giorgio Morandi's still life paintings of unobtrusive familiar objects have come to exert a strong influence on British painting.

Morandi’s Legacy: Influences on British Art, showing at Abbott Hall Art Gallery until March 25 2006, explores this influence by juxtaposing selected works by Morandi alongside those of 20th century and contemporary British artists.

Despite never visiting Britain (it is said he rarely left his studio and apartment in Bologna) his simple approach to painting is held up in some quarters as the epitome of pure form and has influenced a raft of painters from David Hockney to Rachel Whiteread.

Ben Nicholson, Argos. Courtesy Abbot Hall.

The exhibition includes works by the aforementioned as well as paintings by an impressive array of British painters including Tony Cragg, Christopher Le Brun, Victor Willing, Ben Nicholson and Patrick Caulfield – each paired with a painting by the Italian artist.

Morandi’s intimate still life paintings were first seen in Britain in the 1950 Arts Council exhibition of modern Italian Art at the Tate. Since then he has been the subject of many solo and themed shows in British galleries.

Very much a ‘painter’s painter’ this meticulously chosen and curated exhibition allows conversations to emerge between his work and that of the chosen British artists.

Patrick Caulfield, Still Life. Courtesy Abbot Hall.

Themes are addressed that have become central to contemporary art practice, including how Morandi used negative space, recorded the passing of time and developed the idea of art as process.

The show, organised by the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, includes many important drawings, paintings and etchings by Morandi on loan from public and private collections in Italy.

Works from the British Museum, the Arts Council Collection and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh are also included as are works held by the gallery.

Euan Uglow, Still life with Delft Jar. Courtesy Abbot Hall.

After its run at Abbot Hall, the exhibition will travel to the Estorick Collection in London between April 5 and June 18 2006.