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Subjugation, 1946
Oil on canvas
28 × 38 in
Signed lower left 'George Morrison'
$150,000
Description
Painted during George Morrison’s formative New York period, Subjugation is a rare early figurative work made before the artist’s later shift into full abstraction. Its compressed interior, dark palette, and fractured figures reflect the Surrealist and socially charged modernist language Morrison absorbed in the 1940s.
This period has been newly foregrounded by The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which focuses on Morrison’s early New York years and his role within the 1940s and 1950s abstract milieu. Morrison arrived in New York in 1943, studied at the Art Students League, and moved through the same downtown environment as the emerging New York School.
The painting was exhibited widely in 1947–48, including at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art.
This period has been newly foregrounded by The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which focuses on Morrison’s early New York years and his role within the 1940s and 1950s abstract milieu. Morrison arrived in New York in 1943, studied at the Art Students League, and moved through the same downtown environment as the emerging New York School.
The painting was exhibited widely in 1947–48, including at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Provenance
Private Collection, Connecticut (possibly acquired direct from the artist)
Thence by descent to the owner’s daughter
Sold by the above at: Lotus International Auctions, Guilford, Connecticut, 28 August, 2022 (Lot 17)
Private Collection, New York
Thence by descent to the owner’s daughter
Sold by the above at: Lotus International Auctions, Guilford, Connecticut, 28 August, 2022 (Lot 17)
Private Collection, New York
Exhibitions
Rockport Art Association’s Summer Show, 1947
Twentieth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C, March 30 - May 11, 1947 [a catalogue was produced]
1947 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, 10 West 8th Street, New York. December 6, 1947 - January 25, 1948
George Morrison, Grand Central Modern, New York, 1948
Twentieth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C, March 30 - May 11, 1947 [a catalogue was produced]
1947 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, 10 West 8th Street, New York. December 6, 1947 - January 25, 1948
George Morrison, Grand Central Modern, New York, 1948
Literature
1947 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, 10 West 8th Street, New York. December 6, 1947 - January 25, 1948 [Catalogue No.105]
Morrison, George and Fortunato Galt, Margot. Turning the Feather Around: My Life in Art, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1998. p.71
Norby, Patricia Marroquin, Hazel Belvo, Brenda J. Child, and Laura Wertheim Joseph. The Magical City: George Morrison's New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 2025. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025. p.10
Morrison, George and Fortunato Galt, Margot. Turning the Feather Around: My Life in Art, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1998. p.71
Norby, Patricia Marroquin, Hazel Belvo, Brenda J. Child, and Laura Wertheim Joseph. The Magical City: George Morrison's New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 2025. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025. p.10