Artist of the Day, January 5, 2026 : Morris Louis, an American painter (#2451)

 Associated with the Washington Color School movement that emerged in the mid-1950s, Morris Louis (1912-1962)  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.

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Morris Louis

Water Hole, 1948

Charred Journal, 1951

Untitled A, 1954

Untitled, 1954

Untitled 5-76, 1956

Untitled, 1956

Number IV, 1957

Beth Mem, 1958

Lamed Gimel, 1958

Libation, 1958

Moss, 1958

Surge, 1958

Tet, 1958

Doubt, 1959

Multifarious, 1959

Nexus I, 1959

Circum I, 1959-60

Point of Tranquility, 1959-60

Alpha Beta, 1960

Alpha Epsilon, 1960

Alpha Iota, 1960

Alpha Kappa, 1960

Alpha Ro, 1960

Alpha-Pi, 1960

Beta Sigma, 1960

Delta Sigma, 1960

Delta Tau, 1960

Beta Zeta, 1960-61

Beta Delta, 1961