Always handy, a young George Morrison stands next to his high school shop project in 1938. Photos submitted by CC Historical Society
Cook County held significance for the famous American artist George Morrison. Born and raised in Chippewa City, he spent his youth playing along the shore of Lake Superior. His connection to the region, especially Superior’s ubiquitous horizon line, is evident in his many works that span over six decades. Viewers recognize the rocks, wood, water and sky of his North Shore home. Morrison’s 1948 painting “Dawn and Sea” sits inside the main entrance to the Arrowhead Center for the Arts and was completed around ten years after George graduated from Grand Marais High School. By then, he had left his home and journeyed to Minneapolis, New York, and France, in pursuit of art.
In 1958, on a special visit back to Cook County, George donated “Dawn and Sea” to his old school while being honored by the community for his achievements as a world-renowned artist. At this event, he exhibited 22 paintings and about 40 photographs of oil paintings, work completed from 1944 to 1958. George wanted “to give the people of Cook County a good idea of what I’ve been doing through the years.”
George Morrison with his mother, Barbara, in 1958. George donated a painting, Dawn of Sea, to the high school in 1958. Today that painting is featured inside the main entrance of the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
George’s family roots are deep in this area. His grandfather, James Morrison Sr., was a pillar of the early St. Francis Xavier Church, which was built in 1895. Not only would the elder Morrison often conduct services, he had a special chair at the entrance of the church where he greeted the congregation and rang the church bell. The Morrison family even made dinner for the priest when he came to town. Chippewa City was thriving then. Its population may have been larger than Grand Marais—with up to 100 families calling it home.
George’s mother, Barbara Mesaba, was raised in a very traditional Ojibwe home in Ontario, Canada. George’s father, James Morrison, Jr. was a hunter and trapper. During the Great Depression, James worked on Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. Though times were difficult, the family made good use of the available local food sources and did their best to support their twelve children.
By the time George was born in 1919, the population in Chippewa City was dramatically declining. The once vibrant village had dwindled to a hand-full of families; the large Morrison family was one of the few that remained.
Though opportunity was scarce during the Depression, George developed a strong sense of what he wanted to do with his life. At a very young age, his family recognized his ability to work with his hands—he made toys and soon became a skilled wood-worker. George was very intelligent and curious about the world around him. He received encouragement to continue his education and was one of the few Native youths in Cook County at this time to graduate from high school.
In a 1958 interview, George talked about his burgeoning talents: “I wanted to be an artist because I always had a knack for drawing and doing poster work at school. When I graduated, I started to become a commercial artist. I went to school at the Minneapolis School of Art.”
George later explained how he developed his modern style. “I had the idea at first to go into advertising art but after two years of art school I became interested in drawing and painting and so I changed into the fine arts. [In] those early years of academic training, I was more or less realistic… I guess it was New York that sort of gave me another look at art, and I became influenced by students and teachers… and maybe the French Impressionists at that time. It was still realistic but more expressionistic in that manner of Rudolf [Bauer]. Plus Picasso and Mattise also had a tremendous influence.”
“American painting was very much influenced by the French school… Up into the 1940s and at the time that I was in New York in the middle ‘40s, I came under all of these influences, and I think that American painting was also taking a turn from there on and I was right in the midst of all this.”
Throughout his formal education and his life experiences, George earned critical acclaim and many honors. It was a Fullbright Scholarship that allowed him to study art in France in 1952. He worked as a professor for several prestigious institutions including the Dayton Art Institute, Cornell University, and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). George Morrison eventually found himself drawn back to Minnesota. He worked for over a decade at the University of Minnesota, not only in its Fine Art department but also in its American Indian studies. Upon retirement, he continued creating art in his Red Rock studio on Lake Superior in Grand Portage.
The Cook County Historical Society houses several George Morrison artworks in their collections, adding tangible elements of our shared cultural heritage.
This article was originally published in the Cook County Historical Society Overlook – Summer 2019 edition
Celebrate Cook County’s heritage this September! Cook County Historical Society was established in 1924, before the road to Grand Marais was completed and during a time when visitors still arrived by steamship or dog sled. Since that time, the organization has been fulfilling its mission to collect, preserve and share the history and art of Minnesota’s most northeastern county. This month, those who become sustaining members, new members, or existing lifetime members donating again – will be entered into drawings featuring wonderful prizes from area businesses. Visit www.cookcountyhistory.org to find out more!
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