Photo By Gail

George Morrison (1919–2000) was one of the most significant yet often underrecognized figures in twentieth-century American art. A member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe), Morrison became known for his richly textured abstract paintings and later for his celebrated wood collages inspired by the rugged shoreline of Lake Superior. After studying at the Art Students League in New York, he became part of the city’s vibrant postwar art scene, exhibiting alongside many of the leading Abstract Expressionists. While his Indigenous heritage informed his deep appreciation for the natural world, Morrison resisted being defined solely as a Native American artist, preferring to be recognized first and foremost for the strength and originality of his modernist vision.

In addition to exemplifying Morrison’s aesthetic strengths—particularly his sophisticated sense of composition and his masterful use of complementary colors — The Antagonist (1956) also demonstrates his fondness for evocative titles with literary and psychological resonance. Created during his years in New York, the painting reflects the introspective quality that critics frequently identified in his work. Between 1947 and 1956, Morrison was selected to exhibit in the Whitney Museum’s prestigious Annual Exhibitions, where his paintings consistently attracted critical attention for their thoughtful, brooding character.

The Whitney Annuals placed Morrison alongside many of the era’s most influential artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Mark Chagall, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, underscoring the esteem he earned among his contemporaries.

Today, The Antagonist stands as an excellent example of Morrison’s ability to balance emotion with formal abstraction. Its carefully orchestrated color relationships and dynamic composition reveal an artist whose work was both intellectually rigorous and deeply personal, helping to secure his place as an important voice in postwar American art.

Photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art as Part of the Exhibit,  The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York.