Collage IX: Landscape

George Morrison

1974

Found and prepared wood

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This is a horizontal collage made of various pieces of wood arranged in a mosaic-like pattern. The wood pieces vary in size, shape, color, and texture, creating a complex and textured surface. George Morrison let serendipity play a role in his wood collage. Inspired by Lake Superior’s North Shore, he scoured beaches on the East Coast and elsewhere for his materials, viewing what he found as gifts yielded by the waters. Following his strong feeling for landscape, he placed a horizon line about a quarter of the way down from the top. Space left between the pieces of wood gives the illusion of a carved line, which lends a sculptural quality. Morrison always insisted, however, that his collages are paintings made of wood. Gallery G303 The Francis E. Andrews Fund