Carl Morris
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- See also Carl Morris (disambiguation)
Carl Morris (1911-1993) [1] born in Yorba Linda, California, studied at the Chicago Art Institute and in Paris and Vienna. He opened the Spokane Art Center through the Federal Art Project during the Great Depression. He met his wife, sculptor Hilda Grossman(Deutsch) when he recruited her as a teacher for the center. Other notable teachers at the center include Guy Anderson and Clyfford Still. Moving to Seattle in 1940 they met Mark Tobey and became lifelong friends. In 1941, he was commissioned to paint murals for the Eugene, Oregon Post Office. The Morris's settled in Portland, Oregon and established important and influencial artistic careers. They often visited New York to see friends such as Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Joseph Campbell and Lionel Trilling but declined to relocate, wanting to avoid what they saw as a climate of commercialism and artistic distraction. Carl is known today for his strong Abstract Impressionist paintings, he has been called one of Oregon's most important artists.
His work can be seen in collections throughout the US, including the Portland Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Museum of NW Art (La Conner WA), Jordon Schnitzer Museum of Art (Eugene OR), Reed College (Portland OR), Boise Art Museum, Memorial Art Gallery (Rochester NY) San Franscisco Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago... [2].
[edit] References
Carl Morris, Paintings 1939-1992. Exhibition catalog. Essay by Barry Johnson. Portland: Portland Art Museum, 1993.
[edit] External links
- The Eugene Post Office Murals
- Smithsonian Institute Oral history interview with Carl Morris, 1983 Mar. 23.