THE CREAT1 The four wor s s own om the series inter's Leaves ta e us from the genesis oft e image to its more re ized form in the finished painting. The changes in emphasis, position, and color that become apparent through these comparisons enhance our understanding of the finished piece. When the study Endless Knot Design is paired with the painting Bird with Rose-Colored Plumage, we are surprised that the knot that had been so dominant in the study has become subservient to the bird image in the more developed work, and we can admire the way Graves has interwoven these two disparate images. When we see how Graves struggled over the gesture of the mouse in the study for Mouse Helping a Hedgerow Animal Carry a Prie-Dieu, we appreciate its graceful resolution in the finished wash drawing. Other works in this exhibition make us aware of the artistic means Graves uses to achieve certain effects. In Bird Singing, we see the artist's intriguing technique of first painting on the reverse of the paper to create the desired texture on the front. We learn that Dying Bird and Bird Preening Breast, at first considered related but quite discrete paintings, are actually mirror images of one another, since it is now clear that Bird Preening Breast was used as an absorbant sheet to draw moisture from the principal image, Dying Bird. This exhibition thus offers a glimpse of the creative arena in which the artist works and invites the viewer to take a more careful look that will lead to a fuller appreciation of Graves's art.

The Winter's Leaves, 1944, tempera on paper, 27-5/8 x 58-1/4. Anonymous donor. 68:5.1. THE CREATIVE ARENA: STUDIES BY

DURING HIS MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS of FROM THE COLLECTION of consciousness. This is suggested painting, Morris Graves has remained metaphorically in Effort to Bloom, where on the periphery of the recognized art movements, a keen the plant stem that emerges from the vase carries with it a bud observer of the events of his time but unequivocally committed moving along a serpentine path in the progression from seed to to a vision removed from the fashions of the day. Graves often flower. has been placed with a group of artists, including , In the work of the late 1930s Graves pursued an imagery that , and , loosely identified as the could at times be described as surreal because of his creation of of Visionary Art. Much as his painting is a dreamlike atmosphere that often contains unusual combina­ imbued with the landscape, the flora, and fauna of the Pacific tions of objects and symbols. This is true of Bird of Paradise on Northwest, his work ex­ Revolving Door, in which tends well beyond the par­ a precisely rendered bird ticular characteristics of with exotic plumage sings one region. Through his forlornly on a revolving intense involvement with door ina barren landscape. Asian art and philosophy, In his correspondence Graves has arrived at an Graves has described the imagery that is not wholly revolving door as the only Western and not wholly perch in a confusing desert Asian, but is a distinct style environment ("Globe all his own. Earth in the solar system"), Graves was born August in which there is no "in" 10, 1910, on the family or "out," in which the homestead in eastern Or­ "center is everywhere and egon. Most of his youth the perimeter nowhere." and adolescence was spent When Graves met Mark in the area. Even Tobey in 1938, he en­ as a young boy, he showed countered another artist a remarkable affinity for who shared his affinity for the wildflowers and ani­ Eastern aesthetics. mals of the region, and at Tobey's method of"white Winter Leaves, 1948, ink and brush on paper, 17 x 23. 68:6.99. an early age he could iden­ writing," inspired origi­ tify a great many varieties of wildflowers. A formative trip to the nally by Oriental calligraphy, was particularly attractive to Orient on a merchant ship in 1928 when Graves was seventeen Graves and he began to envelop his central images in a fine initiated a life-long fascination with the East. webbing of white lines. In Fantastic Table with Double Serpent, Although much intrigued by Asian art, Graves's early work was white writing is used selectively around the central images. In more influenced by the style of such European painters as Van the tempera paintil)g In the Moonlight, the calligraphic white Gogh, Soutine, and Bonnard, whose paintings he had seen in lines have become much more pervasive. They allude not only reproduction. This European inheritance is apparent in an early to actual moonlight but to spiritual illumination. oil painting, Crucifixion, one of several works in this exhibition Images from the natural world, and particularly birds, recur that draws on Christian iconography. The Christian symbol of throughout Graves's work and are treated with an empathy that the chalice figures in the Purification Series, where Graves uses reflects his effort to communicate through art a sense of unity the pagan sacrificial calf interwoven with the image of fire to with nature. Graves's birds go beyond a mimetic naturalism and signify spiritual transmutation. In spite of the stylistic resem­ often become personifications of inner states. In Crane with Void, blance to Western art of his early work, Graves's attitude the crane is treated in such a way that it appears almost towards painting was much more attuned to the art of Asia, diaphanous in relation to the background, whereas the para­ which he felt eschewed self-expression. He sought the meta­ doxically solid-looking void is an opaque, gray circle on top of physical in the act of creation and came to regard painting as a the crane's head. The void in Buddhist philosophy represents form of meditation that called on the viewer's own contempla­ the most enlightened state that can be achieved. In the study for tive participation to achieve a shared experience of a more this painting, the crane leans down in a much more animated spiritual nature. gesture, one leg lifted, still balancing the void on its head. The emphasis on metamorphosis evident in the Purification Graves first achieved significant public recognition in 1942 Series is a central element in much of Graves's work. In Table of when thirty of his paintings were shown at the Museum of Sorrow, the table top becomes a miniature landscape, one leg Modem Art in the large exhibition entitled Americans 194 2: 18 that of a bird and the other a classical pillar. Often the transfor­ Artists from 9 States. But shortly after the success of national mation that takes place signifies a movement into higher levels acclaim, Graves, a conscientious objector, was confined at an army camp for six months for refusing military service. In Winter's Leaves, a group of somber works that grew out of this painful experience, Graves paints windblown dry leaves to symbol­ ize the lives lost in war. Other images of despair emerged during the war years. In Dying Bird, the ibis feeding on its own breast reflects Graves's response to the atomic bombing in 1945 of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The chalice, which had first appeared in Graves's work in the 1930s, reappears in the Journey se­ riesof1943. ln both Chalice and]ourney III, the vessel, whose symbolic meaning can be associ­ ated with the Holy Grail, is set in the midst of a landscape that appears to be made of the same substance as the vessel. The journey referred to in these paintings is a spiritual one, and the consubstantiality of the chalice with its envi­ rons conveys Graves's mystical belief in the indivisibility of mind and matter. After the war, Graves, who was convinced of the restorative mission of artists, was awarded a Above left: [Crane with Void], ca. 1945, tempera on paper, 20-7/8 x 14-3/4. University of Museum of Art, Haseltine Collection of Art. 75:3.23. Above right: [Sketch for Crane Guggenheim fellowship to travel to Japan. Be­ with Void], ca. 1945-46, pen and ink on oriental paper, 21-1/4 x 10-1/8. 68:6.237. cause ofU .S. government travel restrictions, he was unable to get any farther than Hawaii. Graves studied lines and little distinction between figure and ground, these Chinese ritual bronzes at the Honolulu Academy of Art and elegant creations are barely visible. Borrowing from the Japa­ created a group of paintings using the bronzes in combination nese screen paintings he admired, Graves introduced the use of with his own idiosyncratic imagery. In Chinese Bronze in Form of gold in the background of his paintings. The Masked Bird series Pheasant, a luminous, pink lotus rises mysteriously from the that followed shortly thereafter evolved from Graves's interest depths of the bronze. Vessels continue to be a central image in in the Japanese Noh theater, which he encountered during a Graves's work. In the Bouquet series, vessels that in many ways trip to Japan in 1954. The stylized impersonality of the Noh resemble the ritual bronzes often contain a solitary flower actors, who wore masks, was particularly appealing to Graves, representing the single plant that miraculously has survived and he depicted his birds with masked visages. from the many seeds that are sown. Graves had become increasingly disenchanted with the per­ In the early 1950s, Graves concentrated on a new group of petuation of wartime industry and in 1954 he decided to move paintings called Spirit Birds, which signalled a departure from his to Ireland to escape the noise and technological encroachments more agitated birds of the war years. Marked by sleek, stylized he felt assailed by in America. Graves was not uncritical, however, of Ireland and the Irish. In Mouse Helping a Hedgerow Animal Carry a Prie-Dieu, Graves makes a veiled critique of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Here, the hedgerow ani­ mal, a fantastical, somewhat humorous creature that Graves invented, represents Ireland and the crafty mouse guiding its tail is the Church. Among the most distinctive group of paintings Graves created in Ireland is the Hibernating Animal series. Bridging the separa­ tion between naturalistic rendering and a more abstract, sym­ bolic representation, these exquisitely self-contained, mandala­ like creatures appear to return ever onto themselves. The circle, which appears in Graves's work in so many manifestations, including mandala and void, is the central form in T omoye, an image that Graves has described as a symbol of protection on Buddhist and Shinto temples and which has much in common with the earlier depictions of hibernating animals. The scope of this particular exhibition leads us as far as the middle of the 1960s. Morris Graves, who has continued to paint in the succeeding decades, is now in his eightieth year and lives in Northern California. Utterances of Christ on the Cross, 1939, gouache on paper, 12-1/2 x 16-1/4. -Marsha Wells Shankman, Guest Curator 68:6.22. CHECKLIST 17. [Mother Bird Feeding Young], 1943, graphite on paper, 29-7/ I 8 x·31-l/4. 68:6.93. The Morris Graves Collection was given to the University of 18. [Chalice], ca. 1943, gouache on paper, 20 x 27. 68:6.9. Oregon Museum of Art in 196 7 through the generous auspices of Mr. Rolf Klep and the artist. The works in this collection 19. Journey III, ca. 1943, watercolorandgouacheonpaper, 19- depict a great variety of subjects, including bi:ds an~ animals, 5/8 x 30. University of Oregon Museum of Art, Haseltine Chinese ceremonial bronzes, chalices, fantastic furmture, still Collection of Pacific Northwest Art. 75:3.7. lifes, and landscapes. The Graves-at-Oregon Project, an effort 20. [Study of Vase], ca. 1941-43, gouache on paper, 17 x 33-1/ directed by Mrs. Virginia Haseltine to bring the work of Graves 2. 68:6.28. to the University ofOregon Museum of Art, helped to facilitate 21. [Study of Vase], early 1940s, gouache on paper, 19 x 27-1/4. the acquisition of this major gift. 68:6.29. In the following checklist of the exhibition, dimensions are 22. Winter Leaves, 1948, ink and brush on paper, 17 x 23. given in descriptive inches and height precedes width. Titles in 68:6.99. brackets are those assigned by museum staff. Circa dates were 23. The Winter's Leaves, 1944, tempera on paper, 27-5/8 x 58- determined by the curator. Unless otherwise noted, all works 1/4. Anonymous donor. 68:5.l. are from the University of Oregon Museum of Art Graves Collection. 24. Drawingfor Winter's Leaves, ca.1944, gouacheonpaper, 25 X 50. 68:6.52. l. Bird of Paradise on Revolving Door, 1935?, watercolor on paper, 7- 7/8 x 8-3/8. 68:6.17. 25 . [Study of a Leaf], ca. 1944, ink on paper, 10-7/8 x 18-7/8. 68:6.250. 2. If Eye Be Lifted Up, 1930s, watercoloronpaper, 17-3/4 x 13- 3/8. 68:6.127. 26. [Crane with Void], ca. 1945, tempera on paper, 20-7/8 x 14- 3/4. University of Oregon Museum of Art, Haseltine Col­ 3. 1939, gouache on paper, Utterances of Christ on the Cross, lection of Pacific Northwest Art. 75:3.23. 12-1/2 X 16-1/4. 68:6.22. 27. [Sketch for Crane with Void], ca. 1945-46, pen and ink on 4. [Crucifixion], early to mid-1930s, oil on canvas, 28-1/2 x 23. oriental paper, 21-1/4 x 10-1/8. 68:6.23 7. 68:6.32. 28. [Chinese Bronze in Form of Pheasant], ca. 1947, gouache on 5. Table of Sorrow, 1937, graphite on paper, 30x32. 68:6.81a. paper, 24-1/2 x 30-3/4. 68:6.11. 6. graphite on paper, 32 x 30. 68:6.88. 1939 Chick, 29. (Dying Bird], ca. 1947, watercolor and gouache on paper, 7. Purification Series #4, 1938-39, gouache on oriental paper, 17-1/4 X 25-1/2. 68:6. 70. 12-1/2 x 16-1/4. University of Oregon Museum of Art, gift 30. [Bird Preening Breast], ca. 194 7, watercolor and gouache on of the artist and Marian Willard Johnson. 66.15.4. newsprint, 18-3/4 x 27-1/2. 68:6.406. 8. Purification Series #5 , 19 38-3 9, gouache on oriental paper, 31. Drawing for Ibis Feeding on Its Own Breast, ca. 194 7, pencil 12-1/2 x 16-1/4. University of Oregon Museum of Art, gift on oriental paper, 10-1/2 x 21-7 /8. 68:6.195. of the artist and Marian Willard Johnson. 66:15.5. 32. [Bird with Mask], early 1950s, gouache and gold paint on 9. Unfinished Part of Purification Series, 19 3 9, gouache on ori­ paper, 24-7/8 x 42-3/4. 68:6.13. ental paper, 12-1/2 x 16-1/4. 68:6.89. 33. [Large Walking Bird], ca. 1954, charcoal on newsprint, 18 x 10. Serpent and Moon, 1938, watercolor and gouache on paper, 24. 68:6.403. 23-1/2 X 28. 68:6.20. 34. [Tail, Head, and Beak of Bird], ca. 1954, charcoal on news­ 1 l. In the Moonlight, 1940, tempera on paper, 26-1/4 x 32. print, 18 X 24. 68:6.404. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Hatch. 35. [Footed Vase with Spotted Flower], ca. 1950, gouache on 12. [Fantastic Tabl.e with Double Serpent], ca. 1940, gouache on paper, 18-7 /8 x 15-5/8. 68:6.46. paper, 10-1/2 x 11-1/2. 68:6.75. 36. [Footed Vase with White Flower), ca. 1950, gouache on pa­ 13. Waning Moon-Night, 1941, gouache, encaustic, and wa­ per, 18-7/8 x 16. 68:6.47. tercolor on paper, 22 x 34-1/8. 68:6.6. 37. Spring]ardiniere, 1950, watercolor on paper, 18-1/2 x 11. 14. 1943, tempera on paper, 28-5/8 x 23-5/8. Effort to Bloom, Private Collection. University of Oregon Museum of Art, Haseltine Collec­ tion of Pacific Northwest Art. 75:3.25. 38. Spring ]ardiniere, 1952, watercolor on paper, 18-1/2 x 1 l. Private Collection. 15. MessageforYoneSanandStone& AutumnGrasses,ca.1947- 52, pen and ink on brown paper bag, 15 x 5-3/4 (each side 39. [Red Plant Box with White Flowers], ca. 1949-50, watercolor of bag). 68:6.240a & b. and gouache on paper, 18-7/8 x 14. 68:6.55. 16. [Tufted Grass], ca. 1950s, watercolor and ink on paper, 9-7/ 40. [Singing Bird on Crescent], 1950, ink and gouache on paper, 9-3/4 X 12-1/2. 68:6.232. 8 X 19-3/4. 68:6.54. THE CREATIVE ARENA: STUDIES BY MORRIS GRAVES FROM THE COLLECTION JANUARY 6-FEBRUARY 24, 1991 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON MUSEUM OF ART

I SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Correspondence between the author and Morris Graves. Kuh, Katherine. The Artist's Voice. New York: Harper and Row, 1972. Kass,Ray. Catalogueentryno.110,Ibis FeedingonltsOwnBreast Serpent and Moon, 1938, watercolor and gouache on paper, 23-1/2 x 28. in Worcester Art Museum Collection, American Traditions 68:6.20. in Watercolor. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1987. 41. [Study of Singing Birds], ca. 1950, charcoal and pencil on Kass, Ray. Morris Graves : Vision of the Inner Eye. New York: newsprint, 9-3/4 x 19-1/8. 68:6.225a. Georges Braziller Inc., in association with the Phillips 42. [Bird Singing], 1950, ink and gouache on paper, 12-3/8 x 10. Collection, , D.C., 1983. 68:6.100. Rubin, Ida E., ed. The Drawings of Morris Graves. Boston: New 43. [Untitled], 1953, gouache over gold ground on paper, 20 x York Graphic Society, 1974. 30-3/8. 68:6.5. University of Oregon Museum of Art. Morris Graves : A Retro­ 44. [Study for Mouse Helping a Hedgerow Animal Carry a Prie­ spective. Eugene, Oregon, 1966. Dieu], 1954, charcoal on newsprint, 10 x 30. 68:6.277. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 45. Mouse Helping a Hedgerow Animal Carry a Prie-Dieu, 1954, I wash on rice paper, 10-1/8 x 35-3/8. Collection of Mr. and This exhibition was made possible through the generous sup­ Mrs. Marshall Hatch. port of the Oregon Arts Commission and the Friends of the 46. [Hibernating Raccoon], 1954, inkandwashonpaper, 16x24. University of Oregon Museum of Art. The original documenta­ University of Oregon Museum of Art, Nancy Wilson-Ross tion of the Graves holdings, which laid the groundwork for Collection. 86: 113. research on the collection, was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. 4 7. [Hibernating Raccoon], ca. 19 54, graphite on newsprint, 15 x 20. 68: 6.177. Thanks are due especially to the director of the University of Oregon Museum of Art, Stephen McGough, for his support. 48. [Burrowing Animal with Dark Shading], ca. 1954, brush and The museum is particularly grateful to the lenders to this ink on oriental paper, 9-1/8 x 13-1/4. 68:6.181. exhibition, including Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Hatch. Art histo­ 49. Tomoye, 1965, watercolor on paper, 8-15/16 x 12-3/16. rian Barbara Johns was a valued consultant. Museum staff University of Oregon Museum of Art, Nancy Wilson-Ross members Larry Fong and Claudia Fischer graciously devoted Collection. 86:110. their time and energies to this project. Mark Clarke was the 50. [Endless Knot Design with Bird], early to mid-1950s, charcoal preparator and the installation was designed by Tommy Griffin. on newsprint, 19-1/2 x 22-7/8. 68:6.113. George Beltran of University Publications designed the bro­ 51. [Bird with Rose-Colored Plumage], early to mid-19 50s, gouache chure. over gold ground on paper, 14-3/4 x 22-3/4. 68:6.229. Finally, the museum is most indebted to Morris Graves for 52. [Standing Bird], ca. 1953-54, ink on newsprint, 20 x 30. making such an important collection available for study and 68:6.408. contemplation. 53. [Bird with Black Head], ca. 1953- 54, ink and gouache on Museum of Art oriental paper, 16-3/4 x 24-1/4. 68:6.231. University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1223 Telephone (503) 346-3027

The Museum of Art is open from noon-5:00 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday. Cover illustration: [Chinese Bronze in Form of Pheasant], ca. 1947, gouache on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-3/4. 68:6.11.