A newly discovered painting by Darrell Morrisey

"Sunset Landscape" by Darrell Morrisey, dated May 1917

In March of this year I was contacted by Gretchen Shoring of ARTI, a company selling antique paintings located in London, UK, about a painting possibly by Canadian artist Darrell Morrisey. Darrell was a "forgotten" member of Montreal's Beaver Hall group of artists; while some members of the group have become famous, Darrell and several others have mostly disappeared from public view.            

"Sunset Landscape" is not signed on the front of the painting, but Darrell's signature is on the reverse, written in pencil in cursive; on the previously discovered painting (see below) by Darrell, her name is printed in block letters at the lower left of the painting; in both cases she has written her name, "D. Morrisey". Duggleby Stephenson, the auction house based in Yorkshire, UK, which first acquired this painting, describes it as follows:

Description: Darrell Morrisey (Canadian 1897-1930): Sunset Landscape, oil on board signed with initials, inscribed and dated 1917 verso 13cm x 19cm

Here is a suggestion of what might be the provenance of "Sunset Landscape". The painting might have been a gift by Darrell to someone she knew, I suggest it was given to Charles Darrell (or a member of his family), after whom Darrell was named, as he was both Darrell’s godfather and a close friend of  T.L. Morrisey, Darrell's father. In 1913, when Darrell was about fifteen years old, she left Montreal for the UK, accompanied by Charles Darrell to his family home in Chiselhurst, Kent, where she would board at Tudor Hall School. Charles Darrell and his wife, Emily Harries Jones, had four daughters, all older than Darrell, and Darrell could easily have been included in family gatherings. Charles Darrell was born and raised in Yorkshire, where Duggleby Stephenson is located; is it not possible that a descendant of Charles Darrell returned to Yorkshire and, many years later, in 2023 or 2024, decided to sell the painting? Someone identified the artist, Darrell Morrisey, who was a family friend, on a note attached to the reverse of the painting. I think this is a possible scenario. But, obviously, I am just speculating and I could be totally wrong.

Finally, I like this painting very much; it demands our attention. To me, the painting has a charisma (assuming a painting can have charisma; Darrell definitively had charisma). Of course, what we need are more paintings by Darrell, and we may find a few more, but for now we have her life story that is still unfolding, and we have these paintings by her.    

Here is a link to my 2012 essay on Darrell Morrisey: Darrell Morrisey, a forgotten Beaver Hall artist.  

In our living room: on left, a painting by Mary Harman, used as the cover image for
my selected poems, Mapping the Soul, Selected Poems, 1978-1998 (1998); on the right
is a watercolour by J.F.B. Livesay, the father of Canadian poet Dorothy Livesay; 
the painting by Darrell Morrisey is below the Livesay.

"Sunset Landscape", by Darrell Morrisey, 1917

                                            Reverse side of "Sunset Landscape” with Darrell's signature
                                and a sticker identifying Darrell and her brother, Thomas Sydney Morrisey  



Two paintings by Darrell Morrisey

Painting by Darrell Morrisey discovered in 2014

Newly discovered painting by Darrell Morrisey, 2024

Henry Moore and Georgia O'Keefe Exhibition in Montreal

Entrance to the Moore/O'Keefe exhibition

                

The Montreal Museum of Fine Art is one of the reasons Montreal is a great city. it's also one of the things I love about this city. The Museum was founded in 1860; it was originally located on Philip's Square and was a part of the Art Association of Montreal. The current exhibition is Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore, Giants of Modern Art; here are some photographs taken on 21 April when we visited the Museum to see this excellent exhibition.                 

Norval Morrisseau at the new wing of the MMFA

Norval Morrisseau is an artist who interests me; he is a visionary and shamanistic artist. 

Other photos: here we are at the new wing of the MMFA:

 

Herbert Read on art

"Sailboats off Kitsilano" by Nellie McClung

Nellie McClung at the Art Gallery of Vancouver, 1993

Herbert Read writes:

Tolstoy's famous definition of the process of art is expressed in these words: 'To evoke in oneself a feeling one has experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movement, lines, colours, sounds, or forms expressed in words so to transmit that feeling that others experience the same feeling -- this is the activity of art.

'Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that others are infected by these feelings and also experience them.'

Herbert Read, The Meaning of Art, Pelican Books, London, 1950, pages 185 - 186.