Jump to content

Morris Louis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Morris Louis
Born
Morris Louis Bernstein

(1912-11-28)November 28, 1912
Baltimore, Maryland
DiedSeptember 7, 1962(1962-09-07) (aged 49)
Washington, DC.
NationalityAmerican
EducationMaryland Institute College of Art
Known forPainting
Notable workMuseum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
MovementColor Field painting, Abstract Expressionism, Post-painterly abstraction, Washington Color School

Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D.C., Louis, along with Kenneth Noland and other Washington painters, formed an art movement that is known today as the Washington Color School.[1]

Early life and education

[edit]

Morris Louis was born in Baltimore, Maryland, into a middle-class Jewish family. He was the eldest of four children born to Louis Bernstein, a furniture salesman, and Flora Bernstein.[2] Growing up in a culturally assimilated household, Louis showed an early interest in the arts. His intellectual and artistic inclinations were encouraged despite the limited opportunities available in Baltimore at the time for aspiring artists.[3][4][5]

From a young age, Louis demonstrated aptitude in drawing and painting. His formative years coincided with the aftermath of World War I and the lead-up to the Great Depression, shaping his consciousness of economic and political uncertainty. Despite these challenges, his commitment to pursuing a career in the arts remained steadfast.[5]

In 1929, at the age of 17, Morris Louis enrolled at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts (now the Maryland Institute College of Art, or MICA) in Baltimore.[6] He studied there until 1933 but did not complete a degree. At the Institute, Louis received classical academic training in drawing, painting, and composition, rooted in traditional European art pedagogy. Although the curriculum emphasized representational techniques, Louis increasingly gravitated toward modernist aesthetics, especially the works of Cézanne and the early European abstractionists.[5]

While in art school, Louis became interested in emerging American modernist movements and began to explore abstraction. During this time, he also worked various jobs to support himself, including teaching art and doing commercial sign painting.[5]

Early Career and Influences

[edit]

In the mid-1930s, Louis moved to New York City, where he became involved with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project. From 1936 to 1940, he served as a member of the easel division of the WPA, contributing to public art initiatives while associating with a network of avant-garde artists. During this period, he began using “Morris Louis” professionally, omitting his last name in an effort to streamline his artistic identity.[7][8]

Living in New York exposed Louis to the burgeoning Abstract Expressionist movement and the intellectual milieu of artists such as Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock. However, Louis maintained a degree of independence from dominant New York School trends, preferring a quieter, more cerebral approach to abstraction.[9][10]

Color field painting

[edit]

In the early 1940s, Louis returned to Baltimore and later relocated to Washington, D.C., where he would remain for the rest of his life. He worked intermittently as a high school art teacher and took on freelance commercial work to support himself. During this transitional period, Louis experimented with a variety of styles, including surrealist-influenced forms and biomorphic abstraction, which reflected his continued engagement with modernist ideas.[5]

In 1948, he pioneered the use of Magna paint—a newly developed oil-based acrylic paint made for him by his friends, New York paintmakers Leonard Bocour and Sam Golden. In 1952, Louis moved to Washington, D.C. Living in Washington, D.C., he was somewhat apart from the New York scene and he was working almost in isolation. During the 1950s he and a group of artists that included Kenneth Noland, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Howard Mehring, Anne Truitt and Hilda Thorpe among others were central to the development of Color Field painting. The basic point about Louis's work and that of other Color Field painters, sometimes known as the Washington Color School in contrast to most of the other new approaches of the late 1950s and early 1960s, is that they greatly simplified the idea of what constitutes the look of a finished painting. They continued in a tradition of painting exemplified by Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Ad Reinhardt. Eliminating gestural, compositional drawing in favor of large areas of raw canvas, solid planes of thinned and fluid paint, utilizing an expressive and psychological use of flat, and intense color and allover, repetitive composition. One of Louis's most important series of Color Field paintings were his Unfurleds.[11]

Stain painting

[edit]

His decisive artistic breakthrough came in the 1950s, catalyzed by a brief but transformative encounter with Helen Frankenthaler’s stain painting Mountains and Sea in 1953, introduced to him by critic Clement Greenberg. This moment set the stage for Louis’s mature phase, during which he developed his signature method of pouring diluted acrylic paint onto unprimed canvas—techniques that defined his later Veil, Unfurled, and Stripe series.[5]

All of the Color Field artists were concerned with the classic problems of pictorial space and the flatness of the picture plane. Upon their return to Washington, Louis and Noland together experimented with various techniques of paint application. Louis characteristically applied extremely diluted, thinned paint to an unprimed, unstretched canvas, allowing it to flow over the inclined surface in effects sometimes suggestive of translucent color veils. The importance of Frankenthaler's example in Louis's development of this technique has been noted.[11] Louis reported that he thought of Frankenthaler as the bridge between Jackson Pollock and the possible. However, even more so than Frankenthaler, Louis eliminated the brush gesture, although his flat, thin pigment is at times modulated in billowing and subtle tones.

Work

[edit]

Early Work

[edit]
Morris Louis, Untitled (D409), 1953, pen and ink on paper, 13⅞ h × 16¾ w inches (35.3 × 42.6 cm)

Morris Louis’s early artistic output—comprising his drawings and early paintings—reflects a distinct stylistic evolution rooted in a variety of influences and artistic experiments.[5] Louis’s early drawings, primarily executed in pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, and occasionally watercolor, reflect a young artist grappling with the fundamentals of form, composition, and expression.[5][12] These works are less documented than his later paintings, as many were destroyed or remain in private collections, but surviving examples provide insight into his technical skill and evolving aesthetic.[5][13]

Major Painting Series (1954–1962)

[edit]

Morris Louis produced a body of work defined by large-scale canvases and innovative staining techniques using Magna acrylic paints. Between 1954 and his death in 1962, Louis developed a sequence of painting series that marked distinct stylistic phases in his artistic evolution. These major series include the Veils, Florals, Columns, Alephs, Unfurleds, and Stripe paintings. Each group illustrates Louis’s deep engagement with color, form, and materiality, and collectively they represent a pioneering contribution to postwar American abstraction.[14]

Veil Series (1954, 1958–1959)

[edit]

In 1954, Louis produced his mature Veil Paintings, which were characterized by overlapping, superimposed layers of transparent color poured onto and stained into sized or unsized canvas.[15] The Veil Paintings consist of waves of brilliant, curving color-shapes submerged in translucent washes through which separate colors emerge principally at the edges. Although subdued, the resulting color is immensely rich. In another series, the artist used long parallel bands and stripes of pure color arranged side by side in rainbow effects.[14]

The Veil paintings were among Louis’s earliest mature works and were initially inspired by a 1953 visit to Helen Frankenthaler’s studio with critic Clement Greenberg and fellow painter Kenneth Noland. There, he observed Frankenthaler’s stain painting technique, which became foundational to his own process.[14]

In the Veil series, Louis poured heavily diluted Magna acrylic paints onto unprimed canvas, allowing pigment to seep and flow into the fabric, creating overlapping translucent washes. These works were often characterized by vertical bands of subdued color layered in a diaphanous and atmospheric manner. The effect resembled cascading veils of mist or liquid color, hence the name. The earliest Veils were produced in 1954 but the most developed phase occurred between 1958 and 1959. Key works from this period, such as Alpha-Pi (1958), demonstrate a control of gravitational flow and chromatic subtlety that became hallmarks of Louis's technique.[14]

The thinned acrylic paint was allowed to stain the canvas, making the pigment at one with the canvas as opposed to "on top". This conformed to Greenberg's conception of "Modernism" as it made the entire picture plane flat.[16] The painting Tet is a good example of his Veil Paintings.

Florals and Columns (1959–1960)

[edit]

Following the Veils, Louis explored a more centralized and structured compositional mode in the so-called Florals and Columns. Though these series are less formally designated by the artist, art historians have grouped them based on shared characteristics.[14]

The Florals feature radiating or blooming forms that suggest organic motifs, albeit within a strictly non-representational idiom. These paintings exhibit denser and more opaque paint application compared to the ethereal Veils. In contrast, the Columns series presents vertical arrangements of color, resembling pillars or streaks, often running parallel and terminating sharply at the top or bottom edge of the canvas.[14]

These two interrelated series reflect Louis’s transitional efforts between the Veils and more assertive formats that would culminate in the Unfurleds. They also indicate a growing interest in compositional balance and the dynamic between positive and negative space.[14]

Aleph Series (1960–1961)

[edit]

Named after the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the Aleph series marked a brief but distinctive phase in Louis’s practice. These works, produced primarily in 1960, featured centralized arrangements of paint that floated or hovered within the pictorial field, often appearing more contained and symmetrical than earlier series.[14]

The Alephs often employed bold, sometimes opaque colors, and created spatial tension between figure and ground. While the use of staining persisted, the compositions were tighter and more architectonic. The title "Aleph" possibly suggests a foundational or originary theme, aligning with Louis’s interest in elemental structures and symbols.[14]

Unfurled Series (1960–1961)

[edit]

Arguably Louis's most iconic series, the Unfurleds represent a dramatic departure from the more meditative Veils. Created between 1960 and 1961, these works are notable for their large scale and bold, flaring bands of color that stream from both sides of the canvas, leaving a vast unpainted area in the center.[14]

The Unfurleds are divided into two main groups: the Alpha and Delta series. The Alpha-Unfurleds feature arcs of color spilling in from the top edges, while the Delta-Unfurleds typically display diagonal trajectories from the corners. The contrast between the stained areas and untouched canvas emphasized the painting as both object and field, reinforcing the flatness of the picture plane while energizing its surface with dramatic movement.[14]

These works were executed with unprecedented speed and scale, sometimes using specially built ramps and multiple assistants to manage the large canvases. They exemplify Louis's mastery of staining, gravity, and chromatic orchestration.[14]

Stripe Paintings (1961–1962)

[edit]
1-33 (1962) at the National Gallery of Art in 2022

In the final stage of his career, Louis turned to a series of vertical Stripe paintings, produced from 1961 until his death in 1962. These works consist of regularly spaced, upright bands of pure color that span the height of the canvas. Each stripe was poured individually, using gravity and capillary action to guide the flow, resulting in remarkably crisp edges and consistent widths.[14]

Unlike the gestural or atmospheric qualities of earlier series, the Stripes are highly ordered and rhythmically structured. Paintings such as Number 99 (1962) emphasize repetition, sequence, and the intrinsic properties of color. The color palette was often more saturated and synthetic in appearance, with an emphasis on juxtaposition and optical interaction.[14]

The Stripe paintings represent a culmination of Louis’s career-long concerns with scale, color clarity, and material presence. They also anticipate developments in Minimalism and systemic abstraction that would follow in the later 1960s.[17]

Artworks (selection)

[edit]

Exhibitions

[edit]

A memorial exhibition of Louis' work was held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1963. Major Louis exhibitions were also organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1967 and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1976. In 1986 there was an important retrospective exhibition of his works at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. During 2007-2008 an important retrospective was held by museums in San Diego, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Atlanta at the High Museum, and in Washington, DC. at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

In 2024, both Beth Shin and Delta Eta, integrated Every Sound Is a Shape of Time: Selections from PAMM's Collection, at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. The show is curated by museum director and art historian, Franklin Sirmans.[21][22]

Art market

[edit]

In 2015, a striped canvas by Louis, Number 36 (1962), from the collection of Lord Anthony and Lady Evelyn Jacobs sold for £1.5 million at Christie's London.[23]

Personal life

[edit]

He married Marcella Siegel in 1947.[24][25] She supported him throughout his career and in memory of him she supported one artist every year through the Morris Louis Fellowship at George Washington University.

Death

[edit]

Morris Louis was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1962 and soon after died at his home in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 1962. The cause of his illness was attributed to prolonged exposure to paint vapours.[24] The Estate of Morris Louis is represented exclusively by Diane Upright, a former professor of fine art at Harvard University.[26]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Washington Color School Movement Overview". The Art Story. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  2. ^ "Artist Info". www.nga.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  3. ^ "Morris Louis". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  4. ^ "The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Upright [Headley], Diane (1979). The Drawings of Morris Louis. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 127.
  6. ^ "Artist Info". www.nga.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  7. ^ "Morris Louis". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  8. ^ "The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  9. ^ "Morris Louis". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  10. ^ "The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation". The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  11. ^ a b Fenton, Terry. "Morris Louis". sharecom.ca. Retrieved December 8, 2008
  12. ^ a b Morgan, Stuart (March 5, 1993). "Morris Louis". frieze.com. Frieze Magazine. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Morris Louis". theartstory.org. The Art Story Magazine. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Upright, Diane (October 10, 1985). Morris Louis: The Complete Paintings (A Catalogue Raisonne). Harry N. Abrams. p. 264. ISBN 0810912805.
  15. ^ Morris LouisArchived 2013-10-23 at the Wayback Machine Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
  16. ^ Hopkins, David. After Modern Art: 1945-2000. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p.29
  17. ^ Morris Louis, Alpha-Pi (1960) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
  18. ^ "Beth Shin • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  19. ^ "Delta Eta • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  20. ^ "Approaching American Abstraction". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  21. ^ "Every Sound Is a Shape of Time: Selections from PAMM's Collection • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  22. ^ wgclients01 (2024-08-19). "Pérez Art Museum Miami Presents "Every Sound is a Shape of Time"". Miami Living. Retrieved 2024-09-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Anny Shaw (July 2, 2015), Private collections boost contemporary sales in London Archived 2015-07-03 at the Wayback Machine The Art Newspaper.
  24. ^ a b Morris Louis bio, http://www.theartstory.org/artist-louis-morris.htm
  25. ^ "Morris Louis" bio, "Morris Louis". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  26. ^ Morris Louis: Paintings, November 28 – January 19, 2007 Archived 2014-02-25 at the Wayback Machine Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York.

Sources

[edit]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morris_Louis&oldid=1295238303"