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Morrison, George (1919–2000)

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George. Morrison

George Morrison with one of his paintings, 1998. From "Family photographs, 1940s, 1980s, 1998" in box 3 the George Morrison papers, Manuscripts Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

George Morrison, one of Minnesota’s most important artists, is best known for his landscape paintings and wood collages. He drew inspiration from nature, combining impressionism with expressionism, cubism, and surrealism to develop a uniquely textured style. He referred to himself as a formalist in his approach to art.

Morrison’s artwork rarely includes overt references to his Ojibwe heritage. Therefore, he is not defined solely as an Native American artist. Resistant to being labeled, he described himself as a painter who happened to be Native. At the same time, Morrison’s prolific art often reflects a respectful connection to Ojibwe culture.

Born in 1919 in Chippewa City, outside the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Morrison was one of twelve children in a close-knit family. He spoke only Anishinaabemowin until he was about six years old, when he learned English in school. Along with his brother Bernard, Morrison was eventually sent to Hayward Indian Boarding School in Wisconsin.

When he was ten, Morrison left Hayward and underwent surgery to treat tuberculosis of his left hip. To pass the time during his fourteen-month recovery in the hospital—including eight months with both legs in casts—Morrison took up reading, drawing, and carving.

Throughout his early education, Morrison’s teachers recognized and nurtured his extraordinary talents. His work led to a tribal scholarship to study commercial art at the Minneapolis School of Art (later the Minneapolis College of Art and Design). During Morrison’s time at college, from 1938 to 1943, he discovered that fine art held a greater appeal for him. Soon, he started developing an artistic sensibility as a modernist painter.

Upon graduating from the Minneapolis School of Art, Morrison received the prestigious Van Derlip Traveling Scholarship for the Art Students League (ASL) in New York, where he studied from 1943 to 1946. In New York, Morrison was regarded for his sophisticated tastes in art, literature, travel, culture, and jazz. He was fully immersed in the modern art community and his exhibits were well received by critics and artists alike.

In 1952, Morrison received a Fulbright scholarship. He continued his studies in Paris and Antibes, France. Upon finishing the Fulbright, Morrison received a fellowship from the John Hay Whitney Foundation. This afforded him the opportunity to work in Duluth, close to his family.

Morrison returned to New York in 1954 and became acquainted with influential American expressionists: Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, and Franz Kline. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Morrison lived in cities in the Midwest and on the East Coast, including New York, Providence, and the Cape Cod art community of Provincetown. In Provincetown, Morrison gathered driftwood along the beaches to use in the creation of horizontal mosaic reliefs, which became highly sought after by collectors and galleries.

In 1960, he met his future wife, artist Hazel Belvo, at the Dayton Art Institute. Morrison and Belvo had one son together, Briand, and raised him with Belvo’s two other sons in artist communities. According to Belvo, the family was totally committed to art as a way of life.

Morrison taught art at various colleges, including Cornell, Dayton Art Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, and Pennsylvania State University. In 1970, he took a position at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where he taught Native American studies and art.

In the mid-1970s, Morrison and his family built a home with an art studio on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation on Lake Superior, naming it Red Rock for the jasper in the nearby bluffs. This period marks a shift in Morrison’s art back to his Ojibwe roots and the nature surrounding him, as is seen in many of his horizon-line landscape paintings.

After Morrison retired from teaching in 1983, he moved permanently to Red Rock. There, he continued to work prolifically throughout the 1980s and 1990s, despite numerous health problems. He and Belvo divorced in 1993 but remained close.

By the early 1990s, Morrison was recognized as a founder of Native modernism. In 1999, he received a Master Artist Award from the Eiteljorg Museum Fellowship for Native American Fine Art.

Morrison continued to work at Red Rock until his death in April 2000, at the age of eighty.

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Abbe, Mary. “Distinguished Artist George Morrison Dies.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 18, 2000.

——— . “Hymns to the Horizon: Art of George Morrison at History Center.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 19, 2015.
http://www.startribune.com/hymns-to-the-horizon-art-of-george-morrison-at-minnesota-history-center/292771901/

Casey, Chris. “A Bridge Between Two Cultures: Artist George Morrison Dead at 80.” Duluth News-Tribune, April 18, 2000.

“Grand Portage Proud of Chippewa Tribal Artist.” Minneapolis Star, February 12, 1954.

Lamke, Sherece. Art and Life of George Morrison: A “Beyond The Book” Special. DVD. St. Paul: Twin Cities Public Television, 2015.

Morrison, George, with Margot Fortunato Galt. Turning the Feather Around: My Life In Art. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1998.

Rushing, W. Jackson III, and Kristin Makholm. Modern Spirit: The Art of George Morrison. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013.

Related Audio

MN90: The Genesis of Artist George Morrison | Details
MN90: From Grand Marais to Paris | Details

Related Images

George. Morrison
George. Morrison
Black and white photograph of George Morrison and Hazel Belvo, 1976.
Black and white photograph of George Morrison and Hazel Belvo, 1976.
Black and white photograph of Hazel Belvo, George Morrison, and their son, Briand Morrison, c.1978.
Black and white photograph of Hazel Belvo, George Morrison, and their son, Briand Morrison, c.1978.
Color image of Untitled, An abstract oil raw canvasboard by George Morrison, 1959. Primarily orange, white, red, black and green in color.
Color image of Untitled, An abstract oil raw canvasboard by George Morrison, 1959. Primarily orange, white, red, black and green in color.
Color image of Landscape/Seascape with Surrealist Forms: Red Rock Variation drawing by George Morrison, 1984.
Color image of Landscape/Seascape with Surrealist Forms: Red Rock Variation drawing by George Morrison, 1984.
Color image of Duluth Corner, Drawing of St. Louis County by George Morrison, 1942.
Color image of Duluth Corner, Drawing of St. Louis County by George Morrison, 1942.
Color image of Dirt Track Specialist oil painting by George Morrison, 1940.
Color image of Dirt Track Specialist oil painting by George Morrison, 1940.
Color image of Abstract Composition watercolor painting by George Morrison, 1950.
Color image of Abstract Composition watercolor painting by George Morrison, 1950.
Color image of Witch Tree Variation drawing by George Morrison, 1982.
Color image of Witch Tree Variation drawing by George Morrison, 1982.
Color image of Untitled wood relief by George Morrison, 1975.
Color image of Untitled wood relief by George Morrison, 1975.

Turning Point

Morrison returns to Minnesota in the 1970s, builds a home on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, and artistically reconnects with his Ojibwe roots.

Chronology

1919

George Morrison is born on September 30 in Chippewa City, outside the Grand Portage Indian Reservation.

1928

Morrison attends Hayward Indian Boarding School in Hayward, Wisconsin.

1930

Morrison has hip surgery.

1938

Morrison receives a tribal scholarship to the Minneapolis School of Art.

1943

Morrison receives the Van Derlip Traveling Scholarship for the Art Students League (ASL) in New York.

1952

Morrison receives a Fulbright fellowship to study in Paris and Antibes, France.

1953

Morrison receives a fellowship from the John Hay Whitney Foundation to work on his art and teach in Duluth.

1954

Morrison returns to New York and becomes acquainted with influential American expressionists: Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, and Franz Kline.

1960

Morrison marries artist Hazel Belvo.

1961

Morrison and Belvo’s son, Briand, is born in New York on April 9.

1963

Morrison accepts a position on the faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design.

1970

Morrison takes a position at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to teach American Indian studies and art.

Mid-1970s

Morrison builds a home on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation and artistically reconnects with his Ojibwe roots.

1983

Morrison retires from teaching to make art fulltime.

1999

Morrison receives a Master Artist Award from the Eiteljorg Museum Fellowship for Native American Fine Art.

2000

Morrison dies on April 17.