GEORGE MORRISON

- GEORGE MORRISON (WAH WAH TEH GO NAY GA BO) -

Chippewa (Ojibwe), 1919-2000

George Morrison was among the visionary and preeminent Native American artists of the 20th century. Morrison's contributions to the art world encompassed a rich tapestry of cultural identity, spiritual sensitivity, and bold artistic vision. Morrison was a member of the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa (Ojibwe). His Ojibwe name was Wah Wah Teh Go Nay Ga Bo (Standing In the Northern Lights). The artist studied at the Minneapolis School of Art (now known as the Minneapolis College of Art and Design) and later enrolled at the Art Students League in New York City. These formative years exposed him to various artistic movements and styles, but it was Morrison's encounter with Abstract Expressionism that profoundly influenced his artistic development. 

Abstract Expressionism and the New York School were newly established by the time George Morrison graduated from the Art Students League in 1946. Morrison responded enthusiastically to this new artistic paradigm that resisted confinement and rule. He flourished under this canopy of spontaneity and exploration. As a Post-War artist, Morrison became a figure in New York. He developed friendships with Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock and Louise Nevelson. He showed regularly in group shows and had nine solo exhibitions between 1948 and 1960 at Grand Central Moderns Gallery in New York City.

In 1990, Standing in the Northern Lights: George Morrison, a Retrospective, traveled among many prominent Minnesota museums. The artist’s 2013-2015 retrospective, Modern Spirit: The Art of George Morrison, organized by the Minnesota Museum of American Art, traveled to the Plains Art Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the Heard Museum and the Minnesota History Center. In 2024, David Zwirner Gallery presented a powerful exhibition of early George Morrison abstract paintings aligning his long-overdue artistic contribution and prowess to the likes of his contemporaries. 

George Morrison's artistic legacy has been widely recognized and celebrated both within private collections and esteemed institutions. His work is included in the permanent collections of museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Amon Carter Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center and the Minnesota Museum of American Art, among many others.