Studio Exhibit: George L.K. Morris, artist, writer, collector

George was born in New York City in 1905 and raised in a  cultivated background in New York and Lenox. His first family trip to Europe at age three, made a lasting impression on him, especially the architecture. He began designing pen and ink  paper models at age 10 when he was sent to boarding school. At Groton, he was editor of the school magazine and at Yale, became editor of the Literary Review and majored in English.  Art classes were only offered a few times a week for no credit.  

On a summer family trip to Europe in 1925, he decided to become a painter, despite his mother’s extreme opposition. Two summers later, he attended an art school in Fontainbleau for Americans and met A.E. Gallatin, an old family friend. Gallatin  had just opened his Gallery of Living Art in the study hall of NYU  and was the first to display Braque, Leger, Cezanne and Picasso in New York. At Gallatin’s suggestion, George studied at the  Academie Moderne in Paris in the spring sessions of 1929 and 1930, run by Fernand Leger, and fall semesters at the Arts Students League in New York. He still pursued writing and created  The Miscellany, a literary review, in 1929 to 1931, with friend Dwight  McDonald. 

In the early 30’s George often accompanied Gallatin to artist studio visits in Paris and met many artists including Picasso,  Braque, Mondrian, and Matisse and began to form his own  collection. He also served on the Museum of Mordern Art advisory committee  and purchased paintings on their behalf. He became curator of Gallatin’s Museum of Living Art and turned fully to abstract  art in 1935 after Delaunay had urged him. In 1936-7, he became a co-founder of the American Abstract Artists and its un-official spokesman. He was the art critic for the Partisan Review  as well as for Plastique, the short lived English-French art review. George was one of the principal advocates of American abstract art in the 30’s and 40’s, when figurative painting and Regionalism was favored. It secured a place for abstract  painting in America before the ascendancy of abstract expressionism. His collection reflected his desire to educate himself  about the development of abstract art. 

He continued to experiment and evolve his style for the rest of  his life. In an interview he claimed he did not do “pictures more or  less alike for 20 or 30 years. I think I’d go nuts if I did that”.  

He wished for his collection to be kept together and viewed by  the public to further the understanding of abstract art. He felt that  abstraction created a universal art for everyone and transcended time, culture and language.