Frances Morris (gallerist)

Frances Morris (born January 1959)[1] is the director of Tate Modern art gallery in London. She succeeded Chris Dercon in January 2016.

Frances Morris
Frances Morris in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
BornJanuary 1959 (age 62)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Alma mater
Occupationgallerist
Titledirector, Tate Modern
PredecessorChris Dercon
Spouse(s)Martin Caiger-Smith
Children3

Education

Frances Morris was born in London.[2] She attended a state school, Haberdasher's Aske's Girls' School, in New Cross, London. At University she studied history of art, receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Cambridge and a master's degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art.[3] Her master's thesis deals with French painter Jean Hélion.[4]

Career

After working at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, she 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.[5][6] In January 2016, she was appointed director of the Tate Modern.[3] 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.[7][8][9] She is the gallery's first British and first woman director.[10]

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.[11][12]

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.[6][13] She has curated several large-scale international collaborative exhibitions including, most recently, major retrospectives for Louise Bourgeois in 2007,[14][15] Yayoi Kusama in 2012, [16] Agnes Martin in 2015, and Alberto Giacometti in 2017.[17][6]

Morris is a board member of Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh and the Conseil International des Musees d'Art Moderne (CIMAM) and a member of the Advisory Board of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo].[18] In March 2018 she was appointed Distinguished Professor of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. Morris is an Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Essex, Edinburgh and York, from the Royal College of Art London and UAL. She has published widely, and lectures and broadcasts to a broad variety of audiences across the UK and around the world.

Personal life

Morris is married to Martin Caiger-Smith,[19] Head of the MA Curating the Art Museum programme at the Courtauld Institute of Art.[20] They have three children.[10]

References
  1. "Frances MORRIS - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. Wullschlager, Jackie (20 May 2016). "Interview: Frances Morris, Tate Modern's first female director". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  3. Stephens, Simon (20 January 2016). "Tate Modern names new director". Museums Association. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  4. Jean Hélion: abstraction to figuration 1930–1950, University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art), 1983.
  5. Brown, Mark (15 January 2016). "Frances Morris to become new Tate Modern chief". The Guardian.
  6. Jones, Jonathan (22 January 2016). "Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern". The Guardian.
  7. Discovery, RSM. "Ranking The World's Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them". Forbes. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  8. "A rehang, a mega-show and 1.5m visitors: Tate Britain director's vision". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  9. "Tate Modern Appoints Frances Morris Director - artnet News". artnet News. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. Ward, Victoria (15 January 2016). "Tate Modern appoints its first British and first female director". Daily Telegraph.
  11. Jones, Jonathan (22 January 2016). "Why it's great news that Frances Morris will run Tate Modern". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  12. Boxer, Sarah (2 September 2000). "Snubbing Chronology As a Guiding Force in Art". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  13. Brown, Mark (14 April 2016). "The new Tate Modern: more space, seats … and women". The Guardian.
  14. "TateShots: Louise Bourgeois | Tate". www.tate.org.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  15. "Louise Bourgeois at Tate Modern". The Guardian. 24 October 2007. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  16. Brown, Mark (7 February 2012). "Yayoi Kusama arrives at Tate Modern with a polka at Damien Hirst". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  17. Tate. "Agnes Martin – Press Release | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  18. Tate. "Tate Modern Director | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  19. "King's College Online Community - Frances Morris (KC1978)". Kingsmembers.org. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  20. "Martin Caiger-Smith - The Courtauld Institute of Art". Courtauld.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
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