RITE OF PASSAGE
Malcolm Morley, (1931, American)
Oil on canvas (Oval 76" diameter)
Gift in Memory of W.L. Lyons Brown Sr. and gift of Dorothy and Wendell Cherry
Malcolm Morley was educated in London at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and the Royal College of Art. He moved to New York in 1958 and came to prominence in the 1960’s for his super-realist paintings derived from postcards.
Morley believes paradoxically that the flatter he paints the more illusionistic the picture becomes, an insight he traces to Cézanne. Despite the flatness, the viewer traces the flow and streams of paint, and so mentally enters into the summer seascape. The animated, almost violent, execution of the painting is a reflection of the discordant personal associations the artist brings to this idyllic view.
