Frances Morris (gallerist) explained

Frances Morris
Birth Place:London, England
Alma Mater:
Director Emerita, Tate Modern
Predecessor:Chris Dercon
Successor:Karin Hindsbo
Spouse:Martin Caiger-Smith
Children:3

Frances Mary Morris (born January 1959[1]) was the director of the Tate Modern from January 2016 to February 2023. She had succeeded Chris Dercon, and is succeeded by Karin Hindsbo. She remains the director emerita.[2]

Education

Frances Morris was born in London.[3] She attended a state school, Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, at the time a direct grant grammar, in New Cross, London. At University, she studied history of art, receiving a bachelor's degree from King's College, Cambridge, in 1978. She later went on to gain a master's degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art.[4] Her master's thesis deals with French painter Jean Hélion.[5]

Career

After working at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, Morris joined the Tate Gallery as a curator in the Modern Collection in 1987, became Head of Displays at Tate Modern when it opened in 2000, and Director of Collections (International Art) in 2006.[6] [7] In January 2016, she was appointed director of the Tate Modern.[4] As Director, Morris oversees one of the world's most popular art museums, with an attendance of over 5.8 million visitors annually; she is also credited with elevating Tate Modern's profile globally.[8] [9] [10] She is the gallery's first British and first woman director.[11]

Morris, along with her colleague Iwona Blazwick, was responsible with the initial presentation in 2000 of the Tate Modern's opening collection displays, organised thematically and in a non-chronological manner with mixing of contemporary artworks with those of Monet, Matisse, and Picasso. While the non-chronological style was controversial with art critics, it is now regularly used world-wide by museums and galleries; Tate Modern continues to display its collection in this way.[12] [13]

In her career, Morris has particularly focused on the work of women artists, and worked to extend the canon of art history to include work from outside Europe; since 2006 she has spearheaded Tate's global acquisitions strategy.[14] She has curated several large-scale international collaborative exhibitions including, most recently, major retrospectives for Louise Bourgeois in 2007,[15] [16] Yayoi Kusama in 2012,[17] Agnes Martin in 2015, and Alberto Giacometti in 2017.[18]

In 2018, Morris was part of the selection committee that nominated Ruangrupa as artistic director of Documenta fifteen.[19]

Other activities

Recognition

Morris was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the arts. She also holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Essex, Edinburgh and York, from the Royal College of Art London and UAL.

Personal life

Morris is married to Martin Caiger-Smith,[23] Head of the MA Curating the Art Museum programme at the Courtauld Institute of Art.[24] They have three children.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Frances MORRIS - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House) . Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk . 12 January 2017.
  2. https://oca.no/programme/public-talk-with-frances-morris-director-emerita-of-tate-modern#:~:text=Frances%20Morris%20is%20a%20curator,Tate%20Modern%20until%20February%202023.
  3. News: Interview: Frances Morris, Tate Modern's first female director. Wullschlager. Jackie. 20 May 2016. Financial Times. 0307-1766. 23 June 2016.
  4. Web site: Tate Modern names new director. Simon. Stephens. 20 January 2016. Museums Association. 14 February 2016.
  5. Jean Hélion: abstraction to figuration 1930–1950, University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art), 1983.
  6. News: Frances Morris to become new Tate Modern chief. Brown. Mark. 15 January 2016. The Guardian.
  7. News: Jonathan . Jones . Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern . The Guardian . 22 January 2016 .
  8. News: Ranking The World's Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them. Discovery. RSM. Forbes. 2018-03-17. en.
  9. Web site: A rehang, a mega-show and 1.5m visitors: Tate Britain director's vision. www.theartnewspaper.com. 2018-03-18.
  10. News: Tate Modern Appoints Frances Morris Director - artnet News. 2016-01-15. artnet News. 2018-03-18. en-US.
  11. News: Victoria . Ward . Tate Modern appoints its first British and first female director . . 15 January 2016 .
  12. Web site: Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern. Jones. Jonathan. 2016-01-22. The Guardian. en. 2018-03-18.
  13. News: Snubbing Chronology As a Guiding Force in Art. Boxer. Sarah. 2000-09-02. The New York Times. 2018-03-18. en-US. 0362-4331.
  14. News: The new Tate Modern: more space, seats ... and women. Brown. Mark. 14 April 2016. The Guardian.
  15. Web site: TateShots: Louise Bourgeois Tate. www.tate.org.uk. en. 2018-03-18.
  16. News: Louise Bourgeois at Tate Modern. 2007-10-24. The Guardian. 2018-03-18. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  17. Web site: Yayoi Kusama arrives at Tate Modern with a polka at Damien Hirst. Brown. Mark. 2012-02-07. The Guardian. en. 2018-03-18.
  18. News: Agnes Martin – Press Release Tate. Tate. Tate. 2018-03-18. en-GB.
  19. Catherine Hickley (16 July 2018), Documenta to name new artistic director by early 2019 The Art Newspaper.
  20. News: Tate Modern Director Tate. Tate. Tate. 2018-03-17. en-GB.
  21. Alex Greenberger (15 January 2016), Frances Morris Named Director of Tate Modern ARTnews.
  22. Web site: MODULE 1. New institutionalisms – LAP II . 2024-06-04 . en-US.
  23. Web site: King's College Online Community - Frances Morris (KC1978) . Kingsmembers.org . 2 July 2016 . 12 January 2017.
  24. Web site: Martin Caiger-Smith - The Courtauld Institute of Art . Courtauld.ac.uk . 12 January 2017.