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Frances Morris (gallerist)

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Frances Morris
CBE
Frances Morris in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
Morris in 2018
BornJanuary 1959 (age 65)
London, England
Alma mater
TitleDirector Emerita, Tate Modern
PredecessorChris Dercon
SuccessorKarin Hindsbo
SpouseMartin Caiger-Smith
Children3

Frances Mary Morris CBE (born January 1959[1]) was the director of the Tate Modern from January 2016 to February 2023. She had succeeded Chris Dercon, and is succeeded by Karin Hindsbo. She remains the director emerita.[2]

Education

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Frances Morris was born in London.[3] She attended a state school, Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, at the time a direct grant grammar, in New Cross, London. At University, she studied history of art, receiving a bachelor's degree from King's College, Cambridge, in 1978. She later went on to gain a master's degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art.[4] Her master's thesis deals with French painter Jean Hélion.[5]

Career

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After working at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, Morris joined the Tate Gallery as a curator in the Modern Collection in 1987, became Head of Displays at Tate Modern when it opened in 2000, and Director of Collections (International Art) in 2006.[6][7] In January 2016, she was appointed director of the Tate Modern.[4] As Director, Morris oversees one of the world's most popular art museums, with an attendance of over 5.8 million visitors annually; she is also credited with elevating Tate Modern's profile globally.[8][9][10] She is the gallery's first British and first woman director.[11]

Morris, along with her colleague Iwona Blazwick, was responsible with the initial presentation in 2000 of the Tate Modern's opening collection displays, organised thematically and in a non-chronological manner with mixing of contemporary artworks with those of Monet, Matisse, and Picasso. While the non-chronological style was controversial with art critics, it is now regularly used world-wide by museums and galleries; Tate Modern continues to display its collection in this way.[12][13]

In her career, Morris has particularly focused on the work of women artists, and worked to extend the canon of art history to include work from outside Europe; since 2006 she has spearheaded Tate's global acquisitions strategy.[7][14] She has curated several large-scale international collaborative exhibitions including, most recently, major retrospectives for Louise Bourgeois in 2007,[15][16] Yayoi Kusama in 2012,[17] Agnes Martin in 2015, and Alberto Giacometti in 2017.[18][7]

In 2018, Morris was part of the selection committee that nominated Ruangrupa as artistic director of Documenta fifteen.[19]

Other activities

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Recognition

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Morris was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the arts.[23] She also holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Essex, Edinburgh and York, from the Royal College of Art London and UAL.

Personal life

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Morris is married to Martin Caiger-Smith,[24] Head of the MA Curating the Art Museum programme at the Courtauld Institute of Art.[25] They have three children.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Frances MORRIS - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. ^ https://oca.no/programme/public-talk-with-frances-morris-director-emerita-of-tate-modern#:~:text=Frances%20Morris%20is%20a%20curator,Tate%20Modern%20until%20February%202023.
  3. ^ Wullschlager, Jackie (20 May 2016). "Interview: Frances Morris, Tate Modern's first female director". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  4. ^ a b Stephens, Simon (20 January 2016). "Tate Modern names new director". Museums Association. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  5. ^ Jean Hélion: abstraction to figuration 1930–1950, University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art), 1983.
  6. ^ Brown, Mark (15 January 2016). "Frances Morris to become new Tate Modern chief". The Guardian.
  7. ^ a b c Jones, Jonathan (22 January 2016). "Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Discovery, RSM. "Ranking The World's Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them". Forbes. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  9. ^ "A rehang, a mega-show and 1.5m visitors: Tate Britain director's vision". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Tate Modern Appoints Frances Morris Director - artnet News". artnet News. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  11. ^ a b Ward, Victoria (15 January 2016). "Tate Modern appoints its first British and first female director". Daily Telegraph.
  12. ^ Jones, Jonathan (22 January 2016). "Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  13. ^ Boxer, Sarah (2 September 2000). "Snubbing Chronology As a Guiding Force in Art". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  14. ^ Brown, Mark (14 April 2016). "The new Tate Modern: more space, seats ... and women". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "TateShots: Louise Bourgeois | Tate". www.tate.org.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Louise Bourgeois at Tate Modern". The Guardian. 24 October 2007. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  17. ^ Brown, Mark (7 February 2012). "Yayoi Kusama arrives at Tate Modern with a polka at Damien Hirst". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  18. ^ Tate. "Agnes Martin – Press Release | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  19. ^ Catherine Hickley (16 July 2018), Documenta to name new artistic director by early 2019 The Art Newspaper.
  20. ^ a b c Tate. "Tate Modern Director | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  21. ^ Alex Greenberger (15 January 2016), Frances Morris Named Director of Tate Modern ARTnews.
  22. ^ "MODULE 1. New institutionalisms – LAP II". Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  23. ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N10.
  24. ^ "King's College Online Community - Frances Morris (KC1978)". Kingsmembers.org. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Martin Caiger-Smith - The Courtauld Institute of Art". Courtauld.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.