GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Through paintings such as Mural Composition and particularly through his writings in journals such as The Miscellany and Plastique (both journals he founded), George L.K. Morris promoted abstraction to the American public. He fought against the provincialism and narrow aesthetics of the American Regionalists, and pursued the eclectic impulses in his own works. Wealthy and well connected, Morris studied at the Art Students League in New York and the Académie Moderne in Paris. Morris's New York paintings frequently borrowed the playful wit of Joan Miró and Fernand Léger (one of his Parisian instructors), often combining Native American forms with the flattened spatial effects of cubism.
Reflecting the concern of numerous modern artists for projecting their work into large-scale mural compositions, Morris experimented with various ideas for wall paintings and actually executed a series at his home in Lenox, Massachusetts. In Mural Composition he achieved a compelling design which, successful on its own terms, can easily be envisioned as a much more monumental decoration. Its strong, architectural vocabulary of linear and planar elements is reminiscent of synthetic cubism, but is totally flattened and divorced from natural description.
Adapted from
- William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy (1972.73), April 2005.
- DMA curatorial remarks (1972.73), TMS digital database, n.d.
- Steven A. Nash, Dallas Collects American Paintings: Colonial to Early Modern (exhibition catalogue, Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982), 144.
NOTES
Completed exhibition record for Geometric Abstraction: 1926-1942, October 7-November 19, 1972, DMFA.
Lent by the artist, cat. no. 42, ill. b/w
Reformatted and completed exhibition history for non-DMA exhibitions. (Additional exhibition history available in the object file.)
1965: "George L. K. Morris: A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1930-1964," Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. , May 1 to May 30, 1965 .
1971: "George L. K. Morris: A Retrospective Exhibition," Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, New York , October 5 to October 30, 1971.
1974: "George L. K. Morris: Abstract Art of the 1930s," Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, New York , May 4 to May 30, 1974.
1990: "Paris 1930", Valencia Institute of Modern Art, Valencia, Spain, September 20 to December 2, 1990.
1992: "Suzy Frelinghuysen and George L. K. Morris, American Abstract Artists: Aspects of Their Work and Collection", Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts , June 15 to October 15, 1992; The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey , November 14, 1992 to January 31, 1993; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee , February 14 to April 11, 1993.
2003: "The Park Avenue Cubists: Gallatin, Morris, Frelinghuysen, and Shaw," Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, New York January 14 to March 29, 2003; Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts , April 28 to July 31, 2003.
This note was routed and revised by Sue. I have made her suggested changes and am removing the routed tag and adding the completed tag because the GDoc has been moved to Queta's folder for review.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
place of origin- NYC
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
1939
Individuals
Leger
Miro
Subject terms
synthetic cubism
mural
preparatory
abstraction
Regionalism
flat
geometric shapes
lines
modeling (shade)
brown
green
red
blue
white
authors
journals
Native American (styles)
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1972: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY [1]
From 1972: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, purchased from the above [2]
[1] In the exhibition catalogue for "Geometric Abstraction: 1926-1942" (Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX: 1972) this work is listed as having been lent by the artist.
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
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Apply to objects where number equals 1972.37
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General Description
Through paintings such as Mural Composition and particularly through his writings in journals such as The Miscellany and Plastique (both journals he founded), George L.K. Morris promoted abstraction to the American public. He fought against the provincialism and narrow aesthetics of the American Regionalists, and pursued the eclectic impulses in his own works. Wealthy and well connected, Morris studied at the Art Students League in New York and the Académie Moderne in Paris. Morris's New York paintings frequently borrowed the playful wit of Joan Miró and Fernand Léger (one of his Parisian instructors), often combining Native American forms with the flattened spatial effects of cubism.
Reflecting the concern of numerous modern artists for projecting their work into large-scale mural compositions, Morris experimented with various ideas for wall paintings and actually executed a series at his home in Lenox, Massachusetts. In Mural Composition he achieved a compelling design which, successful on its own terms, can easily be envisioned as a much more monumental decoration. Its strong, architectural vocabulary of linear and planar elements is reminiscent of synthetic cubism, but is totally flattened and divorced from natural description.
Adapted from
- William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy (1972.73), April 2005.
- DMA curatorial remarks (1972.73), TMS digital database, n.d.
- Steven A. Nash, Dallas Collects American Paintings: Colonial to Early Modern (exhibition catalogue, Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1982), 144.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Completed exhibition record for Geometric Abstraction: 1926-1942, October 7-November 19, 1972, DMFA.
Lent by the artist, cat. no. 42, ill. b/w
Reformatted and completed exhibition history for non-DMA exhibitions. (Additional exhibition history available in the object file.)
1965: "George L. K. Morris: A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1930-1964," Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. , May 1 to May 30, 1965 .
1971: "George L. K. Morris: A Retrospective Exhibition," Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, New York , October 5 to October 30, 1971.
1974: "George L. K. Morris: Abstract Art of the 1930s," Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, New York , May 4 to May 30, 1974.
1990: "Paris 1930", Valencia Institute of Modern Art, Valencia, Spain, September 20 to December 2, 1990.
1992: "Suzy Frelinghuysen and George L. K. Morris, American Abstract Artists: Aspects of Their Work and Collection", Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts , June 15 to October 15, 1992; The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey , November 14, 1992 to January 31, 1993; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee , February 14 to April 11, 1993.
2003: "The Park Avenue Cubists: Gallatin, Morris, Frelinghuysen, and Shaw," Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, New York January 14 to March 29, 2003; Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts , April 28 to July 31, 2003.
This note was routed and revised by Sue. I have made her suggested changes and am removing the routed tag and adding the completed tag because the GDoc has been moved to Queta's folder for review.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
place of origin- NYC
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
1939
Individuals
Leger
Miro
Subject terms
synthetic cubism
mural
preparatory
abstraction
Regionalism
flat
geometric shapes
lines
modeling (shade)
brown
green
red
blue
white
authors
journals
Native American (styles)
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1972: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY [1]
From 1972: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, purchased from the above [2]
[1] In the exhibition catalogue for "Geometric Abstraction: 1926-1942" (Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX: 1972) this work is listed as having been lent by the artist.
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1972.37
source file
object_notes_4_a-0251.xml.nores