George Morrison, Wood Collage Fragment - Rubbing LXXXI, 5 of 13
George Morrison
1919-2000
Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Scottish
Alternative Name
Turning the Feather Around, Standing in the Northern Lights
Date
1977
Medium Specific
Conte/ chalk on paper, rubbing
Classification
Drawing
Dimensions
37 x 25 in. (94 x 63.5 cm)Framed: 46 x 34 in. (116.8 x 86.4 cm)
Accession Number
1979.20.22.01
Credit
Gift of the Artist
Biography
Born Sept. 30, 1919 Chippewa City, Minnesota (near Grand Portage reservation). Completed study of fine art at Minneapolis School of Art in 1943. Continued at Art Students League (NYC) on Ethel Morrison Van Derlip scholarship. Received Fulbright grant 1952 and studied in Paris. Returned to Duluth, Minnesota on a John Hay Whitney Foundation Opportunity Fellowship. Died April 17, 2000 in Grand Mirais, Minnesota.
Works include wood collage, mosaic, carved "totems", paintings, pen/ink drawings, sketches. Influences include abstract-expressionism and cubism. Prevalent theme: horizons.
Notably, emphasized artistic identity over Native identity. Did not include overtly Native themes in work.
Lowe, Truman T. ed. "Native Modernism: The Art of George Morrison and Alan Houser." Smithsonian NMAI, Washington D.C. and New York. 2004.
Born on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in Minnesota, George Morrison (1919-2000) attended the Minnesota School of Art (now the Minneapolis College of Art and Design). A Fulbright scholar, he studied in Paris and Antibes and taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the University of Minnesota. One of Minnesota’s most revered artists, he received numerous awards and honors including an honorary MFA degree in 1969 from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In the same year, he was invited to visit Cuba as part of a cultural exchange program for the exhibition El Autentico Pueblo. In 1997, Morrison’s Red Totem was one of the 12 works chosen for a special exhibition in the Jacqueline Kennedy Sculpture Garden at the White House. He received the first Master Artist Award in 1999 from the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Although he has chosen to work in an abstract style, he drew from his childhood memories of growing up near the banks of Lake Superior. Wanting to be seen simply as an American artist, he challenged the belief that Native artists must create traditional “Indian” works demanded by the mainstream market. Morrison’s desire to experiment with modern styles and methods became a catalyst to his designation as one of the first Native artists on the New York art scene. In the 1970s, Morrison began a series of large wood collages composted of pieces of driftwood he gathered on the shore. He always started these works with a horizon line, and the colors, textures and shapes of the wood pieces evoke the forms of movement of the sky, water, and shore of Lake Superior. Adding structure and integrating identity in his work, Morrison brought together the intersection of his cultural heritage and his Euro-American art education. By using Modern art methods, he was able to create a combination of artistic and cultural sensitivity to express himself as a Native artist.
Works include wood collage, mosaic, carved "totems", paintings, pen/ink drawings, sketches. Influences include abstract-expressionism and cubism. Prevalent theme: horizons.
Notably, emphasized artistic identity over Native identity. Did not include overtly Native themes in work.
Lowe, Truman T. ed. "Native Modernism: The Art of George Morrison and Alan Houser." Smithsonian NMAI, Washington D.C. and New York. 2004.
Born on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in Minnesota, George Morrison (1919-2000) attended the Minnesota School of Art (now the Minneapolis College of Art and Design). A Fulbright scholar, he studied in Paris and Antibes and taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the University of Minnesota. One of Minnesota’s most revered artists, he received numerous awards and honors including an honorary MFA degree in 1969 from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In the same year, he was invited to visit Cuba as part of a cultural exchange program for the exhibition El Autentico Pueblo. In 1997, Morrison’s Red Totem was one of the 12 works chosen for a special exhibition in the Jacqueline Kennedy Sculpture Garden at the White House. He received the first Master Artist Award in 1999 from the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Although he has chosen to work in an abstract style, he drew from his childhood memories of growing up near the banks of Lake Superior. Wanting to be seen simply as an American artist, he challenged the belief that Native artists must create traditional “Indian” works demanded by the mainstream market. Morrison’s desire to experiment with modern styles and methods became a catalyst to his designation as one of the first Native artists on the New York art scene. In the 1970s, Morrison began a series of large wood collages composted of pieces of driftwood he gathered on the shore. He always started these works with a horizon line, and the colors, textures and shapes of the wood pieces evoke the forms of movement of the sky, water, and shore of Lake Superior. Adding structure and integrating identity in his work, Morrison brought together the intersection of his cultural heritage and his Euro-American art education. By using Modern art methods, he was able to create a combination of artistic and cultural sensitivity to express himself as a Native artist.
Date of Bio