Kyle Morris (1918-1979)

Kyle Morris was born in Des Moines, IA in 1918. After serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, he completed M.F.A. programs at both Northwestern and Cranbrook Academy of Art before settling in New York and renting a studio on Mercer Street in downtown Manhattan during the 1950s. Transitioning away from the figurative painting of his formal training, he began to create the bold gestural works that would serve as his hallmark in the ever-growing fraternity of the New York School.

Morris’ first major solo exhibition occurred at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in 1952. This show served as the catalyst for his recruitment onto the rosters of the prominent Stable and Kootz galleries in New York. In 1961, he was included in the Guggenheim’s landmark exhibition, American Abstract Expressionists and Imagists, which surveyed the abstract expressionist movement that would come to dominate contemporary American art during the 1960s.

As the 1960s gave way to a new decade, so did Morris’ trademark action style, which became more subdued and minimalistic, in line with other abstract painters of the time. He also assumed faculty positions at a number of prominent universities, including the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and the University of Texas at Austin.

Morris is remembered as an important member of the first generation of abstract expressionists, who achieved great acclaim during his truncated career. His work is held in many important public and private collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Albright-Knox Gallery, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Walker Art Center.

Source: The New York Times and Eric Firestone Gallery