The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York
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The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York
This exhibition explores how George Morrison’s aesthetic inspiration and future trajectory drew from his love of New York, featuring 25 of his most important paintings and drawings and rare archival materials.
FREE
The Met Museum
July 17, 2025 to May 31, 2026
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About the Artist

Born in Chippewa City, a remote Native American village on the shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota, George Morrison (Wah-wah-ta-ga-nah-gah-boo and Gwe-ki-ge-nah-gah-boo, Grand Portage Chippewa, 1919–2000) overcame innumerable challenges—poverty, a life-threatening childhood illness, social isolation, racial and cultural barriers—to become a leader of the Abstract Expressionist movement, which he collaboratively defined both publicly and behind the scenes.

Exhibition Details

This exhibition explores how Morrison’s aesthetic inspiration and future trajectory drew from his love of New York, which he called a “Magical City.” Featuring 25 of his most important paintings and drawings from this early period, the exhibition culminates in his Horizon series. It also features rare archival materials that place Morrison at the heart of the Abstract Expressionist movement in 1940s and 1950s New York.

Location

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery 746
1000 5th Ave
New York, NY 10028

Image: The Antagonist, 1956 by George Morrison / courtesy of The Met