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David Morrison Art

American, b. 1956
David Morrison was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1956 and received his MFA in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985. His colored pencil drawings are often nature-based, presenting iconic humble subjects with a quiet focus that is belied by their intensely rendered, almost microscopic details that appear upon close inspection. Morrison has exhibited widely, and his work is included in numerous public collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Portland Art Museum to name a few. A visiting lecturer and guest artist at numerous universities, Morrison is very involved in the world of printmaking, specifically stone lithography, and he is the Professor of Printmaking at Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis.
(Biography provided by Garvey|Simon)
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Ginkgo Twig No.2, 2023, hyper-realist, colored pencil drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1956. He received his MFA in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985. A visiting lecturer and guest artist at numerous universities, he is very involved in the world of printmaking, specifically stone lithography, and he is the Professor Emeritus at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. Morrison has exhibited widely, and his work is included in numerous public collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The New-York Historical Society, The National Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Figge Art Museum, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the Portland Museum of Art, Collection of Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, to name a few. 'David Morrison’s drawings are in the Old Master tradition of still-life and natura morte, whose surface beauty with its signs of decay warn viewers about the transitory nature of all life. In many ways the artist’s refined drawings can be connected to the works of John James Audubon in the N-YHS collection, which, along with their birds, showcase fruit, leaves, and flowers whose signs of decay allude to the cycle of nature and the temporal nature of life. Audubon also tended to isolate his birds and settings against empty white backgrounds. Morrison’s portrayals of leaves also tie into the poetic celebration of nature and landscape found in the works of the Hudson River School. Most profoundly they relate to Asher B. Durand’s obsession with trees (see the 2010 Durand catalogue and the essay “‘A Magnificent Obsession’: Durand’s Trees as Spiritual Sentinels of Nature”). Nevertheless, in the case of the over-lifesize measurements and the leaf's and branch's isolation on the page, Morrison's watercolors are contemporary and modern in appearance, yet profoundly evocative of both past and future.' (Roberta Olson, Curator of Drawings The New-York Historical Society). Artist Statement My drawings of tree branches and trunks embrace nature. I love the springtime when there are eruptive explosions of buds with new leaves and berries. I am seduced by the sensual shape and color of the buds protruding from the branches. I love the firecracker explosion of the red and yellow berries of the crabapple. My drawings capture a moment of this existence. I am also fascinated with fallen tree branches with their scarification left by diseases, infestation, decomposition and storm damage. My drawings capture the degeneration cycle of plant materials and how they echo the living conditions of man and nature. I am interested in capturing the reality of their existence, with all the imperfections, echoing their fragile existence in nature, not an idealized beautification of nature like botanical illustrations. The drawings are hyper realistic: they capture minute details of the subjects that I portray, but they are only an illusion of the actual reality. I became obsessed with drawing branches...
Category

2010s American Realist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil

Gingko No.4, 2023, hyper-realist drawing, colored pencil on paper
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1956. He received his MFA in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985. A visiting lecturer and guest artist at numerous universities, he is very involved in the world of printmaking, specifically stone lithography, and he is the Professor Emeritus at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. Morrison has exhibited widely, and his work is included in numerous public collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The New-York Historical Society, The National Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Figge Art Museum, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, the Portland Museum of Art, Collection of Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, to name a few. 'David Morrison’s drawings are in the Old Master tradition of still-life and natura morte, whose surface beauty with its signs of decay warn viewers about the transitory nature of all life. In many ways the artist’s refined drawings can be connected to the works of John James Audubon in the N-YHS collection, which, along with their birds, showcase fruit, leaves, and flowers whose signs of decay allude to the cycle of nature and the temporal nature of life. Audubon also tended to isolate his birds and settings against empty white backgrounds. Morrison’s portrayals of leaves also tie into the poetic celebration of nature and landscape found in the works of the Hudson River School. Most profoundly they relate to Asher B. Durand’s obsession with trees (see the 2010 Durand catalogue and the essay “‘A Magnificent Obsession’: Durand’s Trees as Spiritual Sentinels of Nature”). Nevertheless, in the case of the over-lifesize measurements and the leaf's and branch's isolation on the page, Morrison's watercolors are contemporary and modern in appearance, yet profoundly evocative of both past and future.' (Roberta Olson, Curator of Drawings The New-York Historical Society). Artist Statement My drawings of tree branches and trunks embrace nature. I love the springtime when there are eruptive explosions of buds with new leaves and berries. I am seduced by the sensual shape and color of the buds protruding from the branches. I love the firecracker explosion of the red and yellow berries of the crabapple. My drawings capture a moment of this existence. I am also fascinated with fallen tree branches with their scarification left by diseases, infestation, decomposition and storm damage. My drawings capture the degeneration cycle of plant materials and how they echo the living conditions of man and nature. I am interested in capturing the reality of their existence, with all the imperfections, echoing their fragile existence in nature, not an idealized beautification of nature like botanical illustrations. The drawings are hyper realistic: they capture minute details of the subjects that I portray, but they are only an illusion of the actual reality. I became obsessed with drawing branches...
Category

2010s American Realist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Pyracantha Bonsai, 2023, hyper-realist drawing, colored pencil on paper
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Ever-interested in delicate and often toiling labor, David Morrison’s newest body of work stems from his practice as a master gardener. David’s methodical cultivation of irises and b...
Category

2010s American Realist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil

Snapshot Series No. 2 (Iris), photorealist colored pencil still life drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison's freshly bloomed Magnolia and Iris drawings further his play with artifice and hyperrealism. Cream and rose-colored blossoms seem to jump boldly from their branches. ...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Chinese Lantern, photorealist still life drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
The latest drawings from David Morrison are master classes in translucence and negative space. Magnified to larger-than-life proportions, Morrison’s networks of delicate membranes an...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Amur Maple Bonsai, photorealist floral still life drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Ever-interested in delicate and often toiling labor, David Morrison’s newest body of work stems from his practice as a master gardener. David’s methodical cultivation of irises and bonsai plants...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Pomegranate, photorealist fruit still life drawing, colored pencil
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison’s new series of drawings are regal in their naturalism. Morrison uses his extreme attention to detail to give equal weight to both the fruit's delicate features and si...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Scarlet Belle Pitcher Plant, photorealist floral still life drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Ever-interested in delicate and often toiling labor, David Morrison’s newest body of work stems from his practice as a master gardener. David’s methodical cultivation of irises and bonsai plants...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Firewood Series No. 9, hyperrealist colored pencil drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and also by working f...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Wind-Up Bird No. 6, hyperrealist color pencil animal drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison has extended his brand of hyperrealism to the artificial, capturing the intricate lithography that decorates his collection of vintage Kohler wind-up birds. His drawings are often mistaken for a photograph from afar - on approach, they dissolve into a mesmerizing display of mark-making.This new body of work plays with the boundaries between organic and manufactured: the metal imposters are resplendent as they perch, pert and expectant, on wilting greenery. Yet another layer of irony, the toy birds...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Wind-Up Bird No. 5, hyperrealist color pencil animal drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison has extended his brand of hyperrealism to the artificial, capturing the intricate lithography that decorates his collection of vintage Kohler wind-up birds. His drawin...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Wind-Up Bird No. 3, hyperrealist color pencil animal drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison has extended his brand of hyperrealism to the artificial, capturing the intricate lithography that decorates his collection of vintage Kohler wind-up birds. His drawin...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Wind-Up Bird No. 1, hyperrealist colored pencil animal, 2019
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison has extended his brand of hyperrealism to the artificial, capturing the intricate lithography that decorates his collection of vintage Kohler wind-up birds. His drawin...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Sycamore Series No. 3, hyperrealist colored pencil drawing, 2003
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yet abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

David Morrison, Sycamore Series No. 5, Photorealist colored pencil drawing, 2003
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yet abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Birch Fragment No. 1, photorealist colored pencil nature drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and also by working f...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Stick Series No. 9, Photorealist colored pencil drawing, 2015
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yet abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Firewood Series No. 2, hyperrealist colored pencil drawing, 2018
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
In "Firewood Series No. 2," David Morrison uses colored pencils to capture the finest details of a frayed and peeling piece of birch wood. With his careful and methodical handling of...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Paper Wasp Series No. 2, hyperrealist colored pencil drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
In his hyperrealist drawing, "Paper Wasp Series No. 2," David Morrison uses colored pencil to render, in overwhelming detail, an abandoned wasp nest. He crea...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Firewood Series No. 8, hyperrealist colored pencil drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and also by working f...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Birch Fragment No. 2, photorealist colored pencil nature drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and also by working f...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Firewood Series No. 5, hyperrealist nature still life, colored pencil drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
In "Firewood Series No. 5," David Morrison uses colored pencils to capture the finest details of a frayed and peeling piece of birch wood. With his careful and methodical handling of...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Firewood Series No. 3, hyperrealist nature still life, colored pencil drawing
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
In "Firewood Series No. 3," David Morrison uses colored pencils to capture the finest details of a frayed and peeling piece of birch wood. With his careful and methodical handling of...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Stick Series No. 12, Photorealist colored pencil drawing, still life
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yet abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Plum Bob #2 (a multi color lithograph showing brass plum bob and night sky)
By David Morrison
Located in New Orleans, LA
A dramatic gold - colored plumb bob, hanging against a backdrop of geometric drawings, is contrasted with the stars of the night sky. In the Greek Empire...
Category

Late 20th Century Contemporary David Morrison Art

Materials

Lithograph

David Morrison, Stick Series No. 13, Photorealist colored pencil drawing, 2015
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yet abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Stick Series No. 14, Photorealist colored pencil drawing, 2015
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yet abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

Stick Series No. 4, Photorealist colored pencil drawing, still life, 2015
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yes abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

David Morrison, Firewood Series No. 1, Hyperrealist colored pencil drawing, 2018
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and also by working f...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Sycamore Series 6, photorealist colored pencil drawing still life, 2003
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison challenges the idea of what is cherished in nature by celebrating the beauty of the over-looked and the imperfect. Found broken branches, a peeling sycamore tree, bug-...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Archival Paper

David Morrison, Stick Series No. 11, Photorealist colored pencil drawing, 2015
By David Morrison
Located in New York, NY
Artist David Morrison creates hyperrealistic, yet abstracted, finely detailed pencil drawings of found natural objects, both by observing the object itself under magnification, and a...
Category

2010s Photorealist David Morrison Art

Materials

Color Pencil, Archival Paper

David Morrison art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic David Morrison art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by David Morrison in color pencil, pencil, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the Photorealist style. Not every interior allows for large David Morrison art, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Bruce McCombs, Mary Reilly, and Adonna Khare. David Morrison art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $400 and tops out at $8,300, while the average work can sell for $4,300.

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