Morris Louis

Art Brokerage: Morris Louis American Artist: b. Baltimore, MD, 28 Nov 1912; d Washington, DC, 7 Sept 1962). Born Morris Louis Bernstein, he changed his name by legal deed in 1938. He studied at Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts, Baltimore (1927-32), and assisted in painting a Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural for a public school in Baltimore. From 1936 to 1940 he lived in New York, where he attended the workshops of David Alfaro Siqueiros and became acquainted with the use of commercial enamel paints. A number of his WPA murals and paintings of work and workers show the influence of Max Beckmann, for example Untitled (Two Workers) (1939; Boston, MA, Mus. F.A.). In New York he frequently visited MOMA. He returned to Baltimore in 1940 and in 1952 moved to Washington, DC. Listings wanted by Art Brokerage.