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Ree Morton
Ree Morton, Maid of the Mist.jpg
Ree Morton in Maid in the Mist (1976)
Born (1936-08-03)August 3, 1936
Ossining, New York
Died April 30, 1977(1977-04-30) (aged 40)
Chicago, Illinois
Nationality American
Education Tyler School of Art
Movement Postminimalist

Ree Morton (August 3, 1936 – April 30, 1977) was an American artist. She was known for her unique sculptures and installations in the 1970s. Her art was part of the postminimalist and feminist art movements.

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About Ree Morton

Ree Morton was born in Ossining, New York, on August 3, 1936. She was a mother of three and had traveled a lot. She started art as a hobby, drawing for fun. In the late 1960s, she decided to become a full-time artist. She earned her art degrees from the University of Rhode Island in 1968 and the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 1970.

Morton worked with many materials, including sculpture, drawing, and installations. Her sculptures often used everyday decorative items like curtains, ruffles, and fabric drapes. She used humor and a style called "confrontational innocence" in her art. She once said her work was "light and ironic on serious subjects without frivolity."

For example, her piece Bake Sale (1974) was inspired by a male teacher who joked that women faculty should stick to bake sales. This artwork featured a very low table covered with cakes and pastries. Behind it was a wall with bows made from a material called Celastic. This piece showed how Morton liked to combine objects in fun and unexpected ways.

Curator Marcia Tucker described Morton's art as special because it mixed painting, sculpture, and both real and fake objects. Her work was smart but not overly academic. It told stories without being like a book. It was also funny without being silly. Morton's art often combined her love for poetry, language, and symbols.

Even though she was most famous for her sculptures, Morton continued to draw and write throughout her career. She died at age 40 in a car accident in Chicago, Illinois, on April 30, 1977.

Art in Public Places

Ree Morton created several artworks for public spaces. These pieces often interacted with their surroundings.

Artpark Adventures

From July to August 1976, Ree Morton worked at Artpark in Lewiston, New York. She created two artworks there, inspired by the park's natural beauty and history.

Regarding Landscape

For Regarding Landscape, Morton decorated a wall near a waterfall. She added arches, fabric drapes, roses, and streamers to the wall. She wanted to make the place feel more like a dramatic scene. She also glued paintings of the landscape onto nearby rocks. These paintings had colorful frames. The idea was to show how the paintings looked different from the real landscape around them.

The Maid of the Mist

For The Maid of the Mist, Morton painted a tall, yellow ladder. She decorated it with ribbons and roses. She also used two life preservers with flowers and streamers. The ladder was placed on a hill, going into the water. One life preserver floated in the water, tied to the shore. Morton tied the other one to her waist. She then cut the rope of the floating life preserver, letting it drift away. This artwork was a tribute to the legend of the Maid of the Mist, a maiden who was sent over Niagara Falls. Morton called her piece a "symbolic rescue" and a "memorial event."

Something in the Wind

In 1974, Morton created Something in the Wind. This was an installation of over one hundred flags on a ship called the Lettie G. Howard. The ship was at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York. Each flag was sewn by hand and had the first name of someone important to Morton. These included her children and other artists like Barbara Kruger and Laurie Anderson. Each flag also had a drawing. This artwork was meant to bring private feelings and relationships into a public space.

Ree Morton's Legacy

After her death, Ree Morton's art continued to be shown and celebrated.

In 1980, the New Museum in New York City held a large exhibition called Ree Morton: Retrospective 1971-1977. This show traveled to several other museums. In 2000, an exhibition called The Mating Habits of Lines: Sketchbooks and Notebooks of Red Morton showed her drawings and notebooks.

Many artists, like Lari Pittman and Alex Da Corte, have said that Ree Morton inspired them. In 2007, a gallery in Los Angeles held an exhibition called For Ree. It featured works by other artists alongside Morton's art.

Between 2008 and 2015, three major museum exhibitions of Morton's work were organized. Her art was shown at the Generali Foundation in Vienna, Austria, in 2008. In 2009, the Drawing Center in New York showed her drawings and sculptures in an exhibition called At the Still Point of the Turning World. This title came from a quote by T. S. Eliot that Morton kept at her desk. In 2015, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain, presented a large show called Ree Morton: Be a Place, Place an Image, Imagine a Poem. In 2018, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia held a major exhibition of her work in the United States.

Where to See Her Art

Ree Morton's artworks are part of many important art collections around the world. Here are some of the places where you can find her art:

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