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§ Adrian Grant Morris (British, 1929-2004) New Foundation through Circular Port, 1974 oil on gessoed board 61 x 61cm (24 x 24in)
Provenance: A gift from a friend of the artist to the vendor, and by descent Other Notes: Adrian Morris spent his childhood in rural Somerset before the family moved to the United States, where he attended the progressive Putney School in Vermont. There, his precocious talent for painting - inspired by the Surrealists in New York - was given full rein. On his return to the UK in 1947, after completion of National Service in the Army and spells at art schools in London (Anglo-French Art Centre) and Paris (L'Académie de la Grande Chaumière), he finished his art education at the Royal Academy Schools. Although a dedicated painter all his life, Morris was reserved in showing his work. However, over the years from the mid 1950s he did exhibit at a number of leading London galleries, including the Leicester, St. George's and Hanover Galleries. The Hayward Gallery showed sixteen of his works in their Annual '78 Exhibition, alongside artists including Sandra Blow, Elisabeth Frink and Stephen Cox. He sketched ideas for paintings at every opportunity, especially when he was away from his studio, teaching. Dominating themes were the earth, its vulnerability to both natural and man-made disasters and the effect on its inhabitants. Following a retrospective exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in London in May/June 2008, works were included in their mixed autumn exhibition of 2009. The gallery mounted a further one-man show of Morris' paintings and works on paper from 8 June to 29 July 2010 - and his works have featured in several group shows at the Redfern Gallery subsequently: Landscape 2012; The Redfern Gallery at 90, 2013; and Aspects of Landscape, 2014. New Foundations, a one-man show of paintings, was held at 42 Carlton Place, Glasgow during September/October 2015.
Label with title to the reverse. Unframed.

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