Items Similar to Head of Woman
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12
Mark MorrisonHead of Womanca. 1940
ca. 1940
About the Item
Mark Morrison (1895-1964)
Head of Woman , ca. 1950
Carved stone
7.75" wide, 9" deep, height is 20 7/8"
Signed at base.
Provenance: Estate of Mrs. Mark Morrison.
Born:
Kingfisher, OK
Education:
University of Missouri
John Flannagan, mentoring and private instruction ca. 1940
Art Students League with William Zorach and Jose de Creeft
Exhibited:
Sculpture Guild Annuals
Audubon Artists Annuals
National Academy of Design Annuals
Pennsylvania Academy Annuals
Metropolitan Museum Artists for Victory, 1942.
Newark Fine Arts Museum
Whitney Annuals
International Exhibition, Fairmount Park, Phila. 1950
Nebraska Fine Arts
Metropolitan Museum Exhibition, 1951
Boston Arts Festival
National Sculpture Society Annuals
Memberships:
Sculpture Guild, Inc.
Audubon Artists
Awards:
Ellen Prince Speyer Award, N.A. 1950
Architeects Leauge of New York, Avery Award, 1958, 1959.
Museum Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
National Academy of Design
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Whitney Museum of American Art.
Museum of Fine Arts, University of Arizona
Mark Morrison began his life as a sculptor while nearing his professional retirement. In the late 1930s and into the 1940s, he like many of the younger artists in New York City availed himself to the great many academies, museums, teachers and mentors it offered. He studied with John Flannagan before his death, and then Jose de Creeft and Williams Zorach at the Art Students League. Having an attraction and aptitude for the ideas of the direct carving movement and good thorough craft, he took advantage of the growing public interest in a new American sculpture, and worked quickly to become a contemporary of his teachers. Through the 1950s, he exhibited with them, sold, entered competitions, and won awards. He was a sculptor with a sure hand, a head for academy, patience, and promise. Morrison died suddenly in October 1964 having had just married his second wife earlier the same year. Mrs. Mark Morrison would offer a small piece for one more exhibition with a Sculptors Guild in 1965. The work was never seen again until 2025.
Morrison was born on New Year’s Day in 1895 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, a small rural city not yet a part of the Union. The only child of a Protestant minister, and one of only 16 that in 1913 would graduate from his high school in Higginsville, Missouri. He studied agriculture at the University of Missouri, at some point leaving to enlist in the army. He would reach the rank of Major. After the war, he married his first wife, moved to New York and began work for Tidewater Oil. He worked with them until 1954, retiring as a vice president. At the time he was living at 8 W. 13th St., his studio already set up in a corner of the basement in his apartment building.
The earliest exhibition on record for a work by Morrison was the Artists for Victory show at the Metropolitan Museum, 1942. Earlier the same year, John Flanagan committed suicide. The death was a terrible blow. Flannagan had been a profound influence, sharing both technical instruction and philosophical guidance. The importance of their friendship during the 1930's cannot be overemphasized. Morrison is part of Flannagan's artistic legacy, his only known pupil during the mythical sculptor's short life. Born in the same year of 1895, both artists came to NYC from rural regions of the US: Oklahoma and North Dakota respectively. In contrast to Morrison's stable life, Flannagan was a deeply troubled, difficult, impatient and unpredictable man. To have considered mentoring Morrison, his teacher must have seen a kindred spirit and artist of extraordinary potential. In turn, Morrison must have been a sympathetic and patient pupil who recognized the importance of overlooking personal shortcomings for the invaluable instruction of an artistic genius.
Morrison did not show regularly for almost 10 years spending this time educating himself, exhibiting here and there. He continued his sculpture studies at the Art Student League with Zorach and de Creeft, spending most nights working stones in his studio. His mature style would become clearly realized by 1950, a synthesis of the naïve and the sophisticated, what Flanagan called "the image in the rock", and the polished fluid marbles of Zorach.
Black Swan was featured in the Sculptors Guild exhibition "In Time and Place" at the Museum of Natural History in March 1952. And exhibit pushing those points in their mission to assist the public to fuller appreciation of sculpture, and that the sculpture and the architecture of buildings may again be planned simultaneous and homogeneously. Morrison's swan was the centerpiece of the modern living room designed by Earnshaw, Inc. In the same hall of the museum one year earlier Morrison and other members of the group demonstrated process at work in seven makeshift studios. He would continue to exhibit in Guild annuals and Audubon Artist annuals. His sculpture "Gosling" was given a special honorable mention from the Architects League in the Avery Competition of 1958, runner up to Zorach. In 1959, when he showed "Grasshopper" he won outright.
He had moved his studio to a larger more private space a few blocks away in Greenwich Village. By 1964 his work had become larger in scale, his groupings more challenging and lively, more considerate of light and the nature of the stone itself. He had lost weight and for a man of nearly 70 years old was in very good health. His death was unexpected and unfortunate, probably of a stroke . His legacy has survived, largely unknown until now in a small ranch in upstate New York.
- Creator:Mark Morrison (1895 - 1964, American)
- Creation Year:ca. 1940
- Dimensions:Height: 20.88 in (53.04 cm)Width: 7.25 in (18.42 cm)Depth: 9 in (22.86 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Wilton Manors, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU245216316922
About the Seller
4.9
Platinum Seller
Premium sellers with a 4.7+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 2007
1stDibs seller since 2015
397 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 3 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Reading, PA
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllBrattleboro Vermont VT Industrial Landscape
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Joseph Kardonne (1911-1985). Brattleboro, VT., 1969. Watercolor on paper, sheet measures 18 x 22 inches. Measures 22.5 x 26.5 inches in custom float fr...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Landscape Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
$1,200 Sale Price
40% Off
Cubist portrait
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Bernard Segal (1907-1986). Cubist portrait, ca. 1960. Gouache and watercolor on paper, sheet measures 10 x 13.5 inches; 12.25 x 15.25 inches framed. U...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper, Gouache
Passaic River NJ Landscape
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Joseph Kardonne (1911-1985). Passaic River Landscape 1967. 9.5 x 13 inches. Watercolor on paper, sheet measures inches. Signed, dated and titled lower right. Excellent condition.
...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
Male portrait study
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Joseph Kardonne (1911-1985). Portrait Study, 1966. 10.25 x 10.25 inches. Watercolor on paper, sheet measures inches. Signed, dated and titled lower right. Excellent condition.
Bor...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
Tugboat WPA era painting
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Joseph Kardonne (1911-1985). Tugboat, 1939, 9 x 11.25 inches. Ink on paper. Signed, dated and titled lower right. Excellent condition.
Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1911, Joe Kardo...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Paintings
Materials
Ink
Tarleton Golf Landscape
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Joseph Kardonne (1911-1985). Tarleton Landscape 1967. 9 x 12 inches. Watercolor on paper, sheet measures inches. Signed, dated and titled lower right. Excellent condition.
Born in...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Paintings
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
You May Also Like
Female Torso
By Leon Saulter
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Born in Poland on March 31, 1908. By the 1930s Saulter was active on the Federal Art Project while a resident of Los Angeles.
He died there on Se...
Category
1970s Cubist Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Marble
$1,425 Sale Price
50% Off
Abstract Signed Cubist Bronze Sculpture "Cats" Chicago Bauhaus Woman Modernist
Located in Surfside, FL
This listing is just for the sculpture. (the picture of the ad is for reference and is not included.)
Marie Zoe Greene-Mercier was an artist, writer and arts activist who worked in t...
Category
1960s Cubist Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Travertine, Bronze
Emergence
By Robert Russin
Located in West Hollywood, CA
It is with great pleasure that we present the original works of American artist Robert Russin (1914-2007)
Robert Russin began his career as a WPA sculptor, and received dozens of...
Category
1980s Cubist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Marble
Price Upon Request
"Guitar Player, " Carved Limestone signed by Maureen Bergquist Gray
By Maureen Bergquist Gray
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Guitar Player" is a limestone sculpture by Maureen Bergquist Gray. Much like the cubists in the early 20th century, Maureen abstracts the figure of a guitar player into simple shape...
Category
1990s Cubist Sculptures
Materials
Limestone
Picasso Madoura Ceramic A.R. 172 Bird With Worm
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Pablo Picasso A.R. 172
Bird With Worm
1952
6” round Edition of 500
White earthenware clay, oxidized paraffin decoration, white enamel.
Ramie 172 is a Madoura...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Picasso Madoura Ceramic A.R. 161 Toros
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Pablo Picasso A.R. 161
Toros
1952, July 29
8” round Edition of 500
White earthenware clay, decoration in engobes and oxidized paraffin.
Ramie 161 is a Madour...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
