Still Life, Newlyn II

(Also refers to 2017.078) Throughout Morris’s extensive oeuvre, the artist frequently explored expressive powers behind ordinary still life objects. Morris’s interest in the centuries-old still life genre, predominantly positioned in interior settings, served as a useful exercise in Post-Impressionist doctrines, while he was confined within his Newlyn studio walls due to the impact of wartime restrictions (refer to 'Refugee', 2017.016; 'Portrait of Gladys Rogers', 2017.042; 'Gladys Rogers', 2017.041; 'Freda Bloch', 2017.073). Even after the war, however, Morris continued to experiment with his style and technique as can be seen in 'Still Life, Newlyn' I and II (also refer to 'Still Life', 2017.100). In these two watercolours, Morris disrupts what would otherwise be a traditional arrangement, possibly inspired by the early table still lifes of the seventeenth century, with Cézannesque notions of space. Morris sets the angle of vision at a high vantage point, so that the objects appear to be dramatically tilted forward. Additionally, both groupings are positioned on fragmented, colourful surfaces juxtaposed with ambiguous interiors; effects that enhance his underlying use of abstraction in order to reveal the subjectivity or the spirituality of the things themselves.

Presented by Maggi Hambling and Robert Davey, trustees of the artist's estate, 2017