Morris Louis Now

"Morris Louis Now: An American Master Revisited" is the first consideration of Washington, D.C.–based artist Morris Louis's work since 1986. The exhibition presents major paintings dating from the early 1950s until his death in late 1962, the years Louis developed an innovative method of painting by "staining" his unprimed canvases with thinned washes of acrylic pigments. The artist, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1912, studied at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts. As a young man he painted in a realist manner; only in his forties did he find his signature style. Even in cramped quarters in Washington D.C., Louis was able to make large paintings, achieving an exuberant, lyrical celebration of colors hovering in white space. Louis became an inspirational figure for other artists in the Color Field movement in the 1960s, notably Kenneth Noland and Helen Frankenthaler. The exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, in close collaboration with the artist's widow, Marcella Louis Brenner and independent scholar Diane Upright. The Hirshhorn's presentation is coordinated by senior curator Valerie Fletcher. Coinciding with this exhibition will be galleries devoted to the recent research and conservation of Color Field paintings in the Hirshhorn's collection.

Morris Louis Now
An American Master Revisited

Stationen:
04.11.06 - 24.01.07 High Museum of Art, Atlanta
17.02.07 - 06.05.07 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
20.09.07 - 06.01.08 Hirshhorn Museum, Washington