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]
Frances Morris CBE | |
|---|---|
 Morris in 2018 | |
| Born | January 1959 (age 65) London, England |
| Alma mater | |
| Title | Director Emerita, Tate Modern |
| Predecessor | Chris Dercon |
| Successor | Karin Hindsbo |
| Spouse | Martin Caiger-Smith |
| Children | 3 |
Education
editFrances 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
editAfter 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
edit- Conseil International des Musees d'Art Moderne (CIMAM), Member of the Advisory Committee[20]
- Fruitmarket Gallery, Member of the Board of Directors[20]
- Mori Art Museum, Member of the Advisory Board[20]
- Serralves Museum, Member of the Advisory Board[21]
- MNAC Bucharest, Member of the Scientific Board[22]
Recognition
editMorris 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
editMorris 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
edit- ^ "Frances MORRIS - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Wullschlager, Jackie (20 May 2016). "Interview: Frances Morris, Tate Modern's first female director". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ a b Stephens, Simon (20 January 2016). "Tate Modern names new director". Museums Association. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ Jean Hélion: abstraction to figuration 1930–1950, University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art), 1983.
- ^ Brown, Mark (15 January 2016). "Frances Morris to become new Tate Modern chief". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c Jones, Jonathan (22 January 2016). "Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern". The Guardian.
- ^ Discovery, RSM. "Ranking The World's Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them". Forbes. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ^ "A rehang, a mega-show and 1.5m visitors: Tate Britain director's vision". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Tate Modern Appoints Frances Morris Director - artnet News". artnet News. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ a b Ward, Victoria (15 January 2016). "Tate Modern appoints its first British and first female director". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Jones, Jonathan (22 January 2016). "Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Boxer, Sarah (2 September 2000). "Snubbing Chronology As a Guiding Force in Art". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Brown, Mark (14 April 2016). "The new Tate Modern: more space, seats ... and women". The Guardian.
- ^ "TateShots: Louise Bourgeois | Tate". www.tate.org.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Louise Bourgeois at Tate Modern". The Guardian. 24 October 2007. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Brown, Mark (7 February 2012). "Yayoi Kusama arrives at Tate Modern with a polka at Damien Hirst". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Tate. "Agnes Martin – Press Release | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Catherine Hickley (16 July 2018), Documenta to name new artistic director by early 2019 The Art Newspaper.
- ^ a b c Tate. "Tate Modern Director | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ^ Alex Greenberger (15 January 2016), Frances Morris Named Director of Tate Modern ARTnews.
- ^ "MODULE 1. New institutionalisms – LAP II". Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N10.
- ^ "King's College Online Community - Frances Morris (KC1978)". Kingsmembers.org. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Martin Caiger-Smith - The Courtauld Institute of Art". Courtauld.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.