Cedric Morris
Birds and Cacti, 1927
Oil on canvas
23 ½ x 19 ½ in. (59.5 x 49.5cm)
Signed and dated Cedric Morris 27
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com The year this work was painted, Cedric Morris was living in London with his long-term partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). The couple...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
The year this work was painted, Cedric Morris was living in London with his long-term partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). The couple had moved from Paris in 1926 where they had lived for five years, immersing themselves in the avant-garde, Montparnasse artistic circle that included Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), Man Ray (1890-1976) and the collector Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979).Morris was undoubtedly influenced by the Dada and Surrealist artists that had surrounded him in Paris, as can be seen by this painting. He chooses to explore a fantastical, almost prehistoric, Arcadian landscape featuring a variety of different cacti, birds and butterflies. As well as painting birds throughout his career, Cedric Morris also bred them, as he did plants. This gave him an inherent understanding of the movement and biological structure of these animals and led critics to comment on the ‘reptilian ancestry’ carefully observed by the artist.1This painting does not only experiment with form and colour but also experiments with texture, adding what looks like sand to the oil paint used to create the rocky formations. He also uses thick globules of paint to accentuate the cactus spines. The innovative texture of Morris’s work had been noticed in 1922 and in 1923 he created the abstract work Experiment in Textures, now in the collection of the Tate [T06970]. Although almost sculptural in painted construction, Morris has not overlooked his attention to detail, as can be seen by the minute ladybird slowly moving towards the centre of the cactus in the foreground. An interesting contribution to Morris’s oeuvre, this painting encapsulates modern ideas and Surrealist influence of contemporary European art of the late 1920s. Whether Britain was ready for Cedric Morris or not, this painting successfully captures his ‘extremely personal vision, with something of the child’s wonder at ordinary things.’2Cedric Morris was one of the most accomplished painters of the natural world in twentieth-century British art. His bright and often busy compositions of flowers, birds and natural landscapes, both abroad and in Britain, demonstrate a sensitive and endearing naivety, whilst simultaneously capturing the detail of natural beauty. A lifelong plantsman, he brought back unusual species from1 The Times, Thursday 10th May 1928, p.14.2 The Times, Thursday 6th March 1930, p.12.abroad and became an acclaimed breeder of irises. In this work Cedric explores the use of a chosen landscape with selected plants placed in the foreground. The effect of this creates a highly personalised composition. Within Birds and Cacti there seven identifiable species of cacti represented by Morris, these are:
- Opuntia
- Gasteria
- Cylindropuntia
- Aeonium
- Euphorbia
- Aloe
- Dudleya
The incorporation of favourite species in a chosen setting is something that makes Morris’ landscapes so endearing. In addition the birds depicted in the work can be identified as stonechat and a rosy starling further adding to Morris’ keen scientific eye. Although spending the majority of his life in England, Cedric Morris was proud of his Welsh heritage, having been born to Welsh parents in Swansea in 1889. Morris inherited the Morris baronetcy from his father George Lockwood Morris, 8th Baronet on his death in 1947.Initially Morris intended to go into the army but, failing the assessments, went to Canada to work on a farm. When he returned to England he enrolled at the Royal College of Music to study singing but then later decided to pursue art independently. With the outbreak of World War One Cedric Morris was unable to fight due to health reasons but contributed to the war effort by training horses, which would be sent to the front line, until 1916.From 1917 until 1920 he lived in Newlyn, Cornwall, as part of the artistic community that had settled there following the extension of the Great Western Railway in 1877. It was in Newlyn that he met his life-long partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894-1978), who was already married, and despite several other relationships throughout their lives, Morris and Lett-Haines lived happily together for sixty years. The couple lived together in Paris, London and then Hadleigh in Suffolk and spent much of their time travelling – Morris’s first exhibition was in Rome in 1922.Although Morris attended the académies libres in Paris, he was predominantly a self-taught artist. In 1937 he founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Dedham, Essex with Arthur Lett-Haines, which was then moved to Haleigh in Suffolk, where the couple lived until their deaths. Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling were both students of the school.
The year this work was painted, Cedric Morris was living in London with his long-term partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). The couple had moved from Paris in 1926 where they had lived for five years, immersing themselves in the avant-garde, Montparnasse artistic circle that included Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), Man Ray (1890-1976) and the collector Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979).Morris was undoubtedly influenced by the Dada and Surrealist artists that had surrounded him in Paris, as can be seen by this painting. He chooses to explore a fantastical, almost prehistoric, Arcadian landscape featuring a variety of different cacti, birds and butterflies. As well as painting birds throughout his career, Cedric Morris also bred them, as he did plants. This gave him an inherent understanding of the movement and biological structure of these animals and led critics to comment on the ‘reptilian ancestry’ carefully observed by the artist.1This painting does not only experiment with form and colour but also experiments with texture, adding what looks like sand to the oil paint used to create the rocky formations. He also uses thick globules of paint to accentuate the cactus spines. The innovative texture of Morris’s work had been noticed in 1922 and in 1923 he created the abstract work Experiment in Textures, now in the collection of the Tate [T06970]. Although almost sculptural in painted construction, Morris has not overlooked his attention to detail, as can be seen by the minute ladybird slowly moving towards the centre of the cactus in the foreground. An interesting contribution to Morris’s oeuvre, this painting encapsulates modern ideas and Surrealist influence of contemporary European art of the late 1920s. Whether Britain was ready for Cedric Morris or not, this painting successfully captures his ‘extremely personal vision, with something of the child’s wonder at ordinary things.’2Cedric Morris was one of the most accomplished painters of the natural world in twentieth-century British art. His bright and often busy compositions of flowers, birds and natural landscapes, both abroad and in Britain, demonstrate a sensitive and endearing naivety, whilst simultaneously capturing the detail of natural beauty. A lifelong plantsman, he brought back unusual species from1 The Times, Thursday 10th May 1928, p.14.2 The Times, Thursday 6th March 1930, p.12.abroad and became an acclaimed breeder of irises. In this work Cedric explores the use of a chosen landscape with selected plants placed in the foreground. The effect of this creates a highly personalised composition. Within Birds and Cacti there seven identifiable species of cacti represented by Morris, these are:
- Opuntia
- Gasteria
- Cylindropuntia
- Aeonium
- Euphorbia
- Aloe
- Dudleya
The incorporation of favourite species in a chosen setting is something that makes Morris’ landscapes so endearing. In addition the birds depicted in the work can be identified as stonechat and a rosy starling further adding to Morris’ keen scientific eye. Although spending the majority of his life in England, Cedric Morris was proud of his Welsh heritage, having been born to Welsh parents in Swansea in 1889. Morris inherited the Morris baronetcy from his father George Lockwood Morris, 8th Baronet on his death in 1947.Initially Morris intended to go into the army but, failing the assessments, went to Canada to work on a farm. When he returned to England he enrolled at the Royal College of Music to study singing but then later decided to pursue art independently. With the outbreak of World War One Cedric Morris was unable to fight due to health reasons but contributed to the war effort by training horses, which would be sent to the front line, until 1916.From 1917 until 1920 he lived in Newlyn, Cornwall, as part of the artistic community that had settled there following the extension of the Great Western Railway in 1877. It was in Newlyn that he met his life-long partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894-1978), who was already married, and despite several other relationships throughout their lives, Morris and Lett-Haines lived happily together for sixty years. The couple lived together in Paris, London and then Hadleigh in Suffolk and spent much of their time travelling – Morris’s first exhibition was in Rome in 1922.Although Morris attended the académies libres in Paris, he was predominantly a self-taught artist. In 1937 he founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Dedham, Essex with Arthur Lett-Haines, which was then moved to Haleigh in Suffolk, where the couple lived until their deaths. Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling were both students of the school.