Morris Louis

American, 1912 - 1962

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American painter (1912-1962)

Explore Selected Works

Morris Louis, 1-33, 1962, acrylic on canvas, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine, 1976.64.1

1-33

Morris Louis · 1962 · acrylic on canvas ·  Accession ID  1976.64.1

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2-69

Morris Louis · 1962 · acrylic on canvas ·  Accession ID  2015.19.183

On either side of a rectangular, off-white canvas, thirteen wavy, almost parallel lines, each in a different color, drift and drip from either short end of the canvas down toward the bottom center. The lines vary in thickness and many are separated by narrow white spaces, but sometimes the lines bump or drip into their neighbors. Most of the colors to our left are warm, with buttercup yellow, papaya and fire orange, pea green, crimson red, and magenta. To our right, most of the colors are cool with pine and forest green, navy blue, burgundy red, and one lemon-yellow line. The largest portion of the composition, though, is the V-shaped white space left in between each bank of thirteen lines.
Morris Louis, Beta Kappa, 1961, acrylic on canvas, Gift of Marcella Louis Brenner, 1970.21.1

Beta Kappa

Morris Louis · 1961 · acrylic on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.21.1

Morris Louis, Ambi II, 1959, acrylic on canvas, The Nancy Lee and Perry Bass Fund, 1998.98.1

Ambi II

Morris Louis · 1959 · acrylic on canvas ·  Accession ID  1998.98.1

Morris Louis, Beth Chaf, 1959, acrylic on canvas, Gift of Gisela and Dennis Alter, 1994.38.1

Beth Chaf

Morris Louis · 1959 · acrylic on canvas ·  Accession ID  1994.38.1

Curving shapes in harvest and lemon yellow float against a background streaked with smoke and charcoal gray in this abstract, horizontal painting. Brushstrokes are visible throughout. Many of the yellow forms are clustered in the center of the composition, and overlaid with black outlines that together make a rough heart shape. The heart form lies on its side with the point of the heart to our right. A few more yellow forms float around this area, including a bottle-shaped form to our left. Black lines are overlaid over some of the forms but not all. One mint-green dot is connected to a yellow, planchet-like shape by a line, near the lower left corner of the painting. The artist signed and dated the painting near the lower right corner, “Louis 48.”
Morris Louis, Sub-Marine, 1948, oil on canvas, Purchased as the Gift of Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, 2017.115.1

Sub-Marine

Morris Louis · 1948 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2017.115.1

Morris Louis, Maxine's House, 1939-1940, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of Mrs. Martin Codel through the Friends of the Corcoran), 2015.19.151

Maxine's House

Morris Louis · 1939-1940 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2015.19.151

Bibliography

1985

  • Upright, Diane. Morris Louis: The Complete Paintings, New York, 1985.