Untitled (Abstract) 1937

Curator: Right now, we're looking at a graphite and pencil drawing from 1937 by George Lovett Kingsland Morris. It's simply titled "Untitled (Abstract)". Editor: Well, the title suits it! My first impression is a kind of playful chaos. It's all these shapes bumping into each other, like characters in a silent, geometric comedy. A balancing act caught mid-performance. Curator: Morris was a huge proponent of abstract art. He believed pure form, freed from representation, could evoke deeper emotional responses. And, well, looking at it now I feel some kind of primordial state, perhaps on the verge of creation. Editor: I'm more drawn to the process here. It's graphite and pencil; everyday, almost utilitarian materials. This feels democratic to me—accessible. What does it say about elevating these common tools to the level of high art? We often separate fine art materials from quotidian drawing tools. Curator: I find it wonderful that such simple means could give rise to something so complex. A line can suggest so many meanings! Is it the edge of a building, a horizon, the contour of a face we almost see. The longer I look the more the artist vanishes and I alone become the creator of my own perception of what this truly represents. Editor: Absolutely! And those heavily shaded geometric forms... it seems like he's grappling with industrial materials, mimicking weight, solidity. Were these shapes sketches for possible sculpture designs? Curator: Maybe! Morris did work in other media. But it speaks to the fascinating intersection between industrial processes and the hand of the artist. Morris also spent time in France so he must have been deeply aware of the dialogue that occurred between art from Europe and the United States. Editor: Which makes the drawing a beautiful record of artistic and material possibilities! Almost a map of creative choices plotted in graphite. A moment, frozen on paper, where an everyday act creates something utterly unique. Curator: That’s really lovely. It allows me now to understand it in ways I couldn't before, just letting the "thingness" of the object inform its creation!