Morris Louis

Associated with the Washington Color School movement that emerged in the mid-1950s, Morris Louis bridged mid-century Abstract Expressionism with the color field and Minimalist movements that followed. Rejecting the gestural approach of his contemporaries such as Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock, Louis deemphasized the presence of the artist’s hand. He is best known for his vivid stain paintings: Inspired by a visit to Helen Frankenthaler’s studio, the artist poured diluted paint directly onto the canvas, letting pigments soak into the support in brightly colored bands. He often left large areas of the canvas untouched; negative space plays a significant role in his work. Unburdened by expectations around narrative, theme, or figuration—and shaped largely by chance—Louis’s canvases presented color and form with new purity. His work has been exhibited widely around the world and belongs in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the Tate, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. At auction, his canvases have sold for up to seven figures.