Cedric Morris (Sagittarius, 1889 – 1982) was a post-Impressionist British artist and plantsman. Best known for his vibrant flower paintings and craving a lifestyle close to nature, he left the city art scene for the English countryside. There he established the East Anglican School of Painting and Drawing from his iconic country home and garden called Benton End. Morris’ paintings and plants are enjoying a modern renaissance, as people seek a more unified, creative lifestyle that he paved the way for.
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Developing his Signature Style
Cedric Morris was born in 1889 in South Wales. His father was an industrialist and iron founder and his mother studied painting and was an accomplished needlewoman. Morris’ early life is marked by travels, until his later years when he established his roots in the Suffolk countryside where he created his masterpiece garden, Benton End.
After boarding school, he set sail to Canada to work on a farm, then made his way to New York City, where he held a variety of jobs before landing on painting. In 1914 he began his painting studies at Académie Delécluse in Montparnasse, but they were quickly halted by the onset of WWI.
By 1917 he had moved on to Cornwall to study plants and paint watercolors. On a fateful trip to London, he met fellow painter and life partner, Arthur Lett-Haines. In 1920 he moved to Paris with Lett-Haines to continue painting studies at the Academies Moderne and La Grande Chaumiere. Following successful painting exhibits in London, they moved back to Britain in 1927 and quickly became established on the art scene.
In London Morris found a studio, befriended fellow artists, and joined prominent artist societies, including Seven and Five Society and London Artists’ Association. He also did a number of commercial art projects with large clients like Shell, BP, and Paul Nash.
Cedric Morris in the Art Studio
Morris had an eye for color. His paintings naturally balance the bold and bright hues often found in the garden without overwhelming the overall composition. Although critics have called his style “primitivism,” he used bold color and simplified forms skillfully and deliberately, taking inspiration from Moise Kisling, whose work Morris had seen in Paris.
Like Van Gogh and many of the Impressionists that preceded him, he built up his canvases with thick impasto, creating movement, depth and a rhythm of surface. To achieve this effect he used untied oil paint, which he pushed and sculpted rather than painted with a brush. This lends an expressive quality to his paintings as well as a sense of movement and life.
“He mixed his paints like he mixed his pollen.”
-Art Critic, Philip Mould
Cedric Morris' Flower Paintings
Cedric Morris painted across different genres – portraits, landscapes, still lifes, but he has become known for his expressive and vibrant flower paintings. A self-proclaimed ‘Artist-Plantsman,’ his flower paintings reflect a deep understanding of horticulture and love of the natural world. They are often likened to portraits on account of their capacity to capture the individual character and drama of each bloom.
Some of his early flower paintings in vases, seen below, draw parallels to Dutch floral still life master, Rachel Ruysch.
“It is not ‘the flowers’ beauty that he was painting, or even exactly their look, so much as their life.”
-Art Critic, Richard Morphet
East Anglican School of Drawing and Painting
In 1929 Morris moved from London to a farm in the country to pursue his love of horticulture. Over a period of 8 years, he settled into country life with his partner, Lett-Haines, establishing himself as an art teacher and gardener and Pound Farm as a destination for British artists.
Morris and Lett-Haines opened the East Anglican School of Painting and Drawing in 1937. Within a year they had over 60 students, notably Lucian Freud, Maggi Hambling, Waveney Frederick, Joan Warburton. Two years later the original building was destroyed by a fire, and the school was re-established in a new farmhouse and garden, called Benton End.
“What people are responding to is not dissimilar to what happened to the Bloomsbury group at Charleston…”
-Frances Christie
Lifestyle at Benton End
Cedric Morris gave himself the title “Artist-Plantsman” as he considered both of his vocations to be equally important and to inform one another. His garden at Benton End not only served as an inspiring painting retreat, but was also an influential in the gardening world for its naturalistic style and collection of rare plants.
Morris also bred 90 cultivars of beautiful bearded irises, a favorite painting subject. Benton irises have also had a recent revival thanks to the influential British gardener, Sarah Cook and are becoming available to the public. Benton End is currently undergoing restoration and will reopen as a cultural center for visitors to enjoy.
In 1975 Cedric Morris gave up painting due to his declining of eyesight. After he died in 1982 his work fell off the radar, until three pairings were discovered in 2016 at David Bowie’s estate sale. Now, his paintings are selling at auction for record prices and his work and lifestyle are inspiring modern creatives.
Artworks by Cedric Morris
