James Wilson Morrice

James Wilson Morrice
Born	(1865-08-10)August 10, 1865 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	January 23, 1924(1924-01-23) (aged 58) Tunis, Tunisia
Nationality	Canadian
Education	Académie Julian
Known for	Painting
Notable work	Prow of a Gondola, Venice
Movement	Post Impressionism

James Wilson Morrice RCA (August 10, 1865 – January 23, 1924) was a significant Canadian landscape painter. He studied at the Académie Julian^[1] in Paris, France, where he lived for most of his career. James Morrice Street in New Bordeaux, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Montreal is named in his memory.

Biography[]

Morrice was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of a wealthy merchant, and studied law in Toronto from 1882 to 1889. In 1890 he left to study painting in England. The next year he arrived in Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian from 1892 to 1897. At the Académie Julian, he befriended Charles Conder and Maurice Prendergast, and also met Robert Henri.

Morrice continued to live in Paris until the First World War, although he spent most of his winters in Canada. He made many connections in the intellectual circles of Paris, while also remaining in touch with the Canadian art world:

• joined the Salon d'Automne, 1905
• joined the Canadian Art Club, 1907
• elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy, 1913

During this period he was also in contact with the literary milieu, with English expatriate intellectuals living in Paris, such as W. Somerset Maugham, Arnold Bennett, and Clive Bell. In the winter of 1911-12 he shared a studio with Matisse in Tangiers.

With the advent of World War I, Morrice fled to Montreal, and then to Cuba. There he began to succumb to alcoholism. The output of his last period is uneven and infrequent. In the summer of 1922 he travelled to Algiers, where he painted with Albert Marquet. This would be the last time that he painted, as his health began to rapidly deteriorate. He died, aged 58, in Tunis.

Gallery[]

Morrice's paintings before the turn of the century are thinly painted and inspired by Whistler, both in sentiment and in treatment of colour. Just prior to World War I he began to paint, in a thicker style, winter Canadian scenes influenced by the Impressionists. Some of his works during his Caribbean period are considered his best and are painted in a loose style influenced by Post Impressionism.

• Prow of a Gondola, Venice, 1897 National Gallery of Canada
• Return from School, 1901
• Quai des Grands-Augustins, 1903. The National Gallery of Canada
• The Ferry, Quebec, 1906. NGC
• Blanche Baume, 1912. NGC
• House in Santiago, 1915 Tate Gallery
• Village Street, West Indies, 1919. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

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  Paris Canal 1900 Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

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  Venice c. 1900

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  Dieppe, 1906

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  Street Scene Pink Sky Paris c. 1908 Art Gallery of Ontario

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  Old Holton House, Montreal, 1908-09 Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal

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  Venice, c. 1910

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  The Ferry, Quebec c. 1910

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  Blanche Baume, Oil on canvas, 1911–12, National Gallery of Canada

Recognition[]

In 1958, works by Morrice along with those of Jacques de Tonnancour, Anne Kahane and Jack Nichols represented Canada at the Venice Biennale.^[2]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Reid, Dennis (1988). A Concise History of Canadian Painting, Second Edition. Don Mills: Oxford University Press Canada. ISBN 0-19-540663-X.
• Ash K. Prakash: Impressionism in Canada. A Journey of Rediscovery. Pref. Guy Wildenstein, introd. William H Gerdts. Arnoldsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 2014, 2. Aufl. 2015 (illustr. book, with expl. One chapter on James Wilson Morrice. Figure Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré from 1897 on the publishers page)

External links[]

• Web site by Morrice specialist Lucie Dorais
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• A large gallery of paintings by Morrice on the National Gallery of Canada's website.