Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

art teacher Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...

and plantsman. He was born in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

, but worked mainly in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. As an artist he is best known for his

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s, flower paintings and

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

Early life

Cedric Lockwood Morris was born on 11 December 1889 in Sketty,

, the son of George Lockwood Morris, industrialist and iron founder, and Wales rugby international, and his wife Wilhelmina (née Cory, see Cory baronets). He had two sisters – Muriel, who died in her teens, and Nancy (born in 1893). His mother had studied painting and was an accomplished needlewoman; on his father's side he was descended from Sir John Morris, 1st Baronet, whose sister

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

married Noel Desenfans and helped him and his friend, Francis Bourgeois, to build up the collection now housed in the

Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination f ...

. Cedric was sent away to be educated, at St Cyprian's School,

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, and

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

. Having failed the entrance exams for an army commission, at the age of 17 he set out on a steamship to Canada, to work on a farm in the province of Ontario. After a succession of jobs, including as a

dishwasher A dishwasher is a machine that is used to clean dishware, cookware, and cutlery automatically. Unlike dishwashing, manual dishwashing, which relies on physical scrubbing to remove soiling, the mechanical dishwasher cleans by spraying hot wat ...

and bellboy in New York City, he returned to South Wales, and then entered the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

, London, to study singing. But he gave up singing for painting, and went to Paris, where from April 1914 he studied at the

Académie Delécluse The Académie Delécluse was an atelier-style art school in Paris, France, founded in the late 19th century by the painter Auguste Joseph Delécluse. It was exceptionally supportive of women artists, with more space being given to women students ...

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...

before the interruption of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. During the war he joined the Artists' Rifles, but before embarking for France was declared medically unfit for action in consequence of the effects of a failed operation during his childhood. As an experienced horseman, however, he was allocated to the training of remounts at Lord Rosslyn's stables at Theale, Berkshire. He worked in the company of Alfred Munnings, under Cecil Aldin. He was discharged from this when the army took over the remounts in 1917.

Cornwall, Paris and London

Morris went to Zennor in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, where he studied plants and painted water colours. There he became friendly with the painter Frances Hodgkins, whose portrait he painted. At the time of the

Armistice with Germany {{Short description, none This is a list of armistices signed by the German Empire (1871–1918) or Nazi Germany (1933–1945). An armistice is a temporary agreement to cease hostilities. The period of an armistice may be used to negotiate a peace t ...

in November 1918 he was in London, when he met the painter Arthur Lett-Haines. Morris and Lett-Haines fell in love and began a life-time relationship, and shortly afterwards Morris moved in with Lett-Haines and his second wife, Aimee. The trio planned to go to America, but in the event Aimee Lett-Haines left on her own, and the two men moved to Cornwall. They converted a row of cottages at

Newlyn Newlyn () is a seaside town and fishing port in south-west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' It is the largest fishing port in England. Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount's Bay and for ...

into a larger house and stayed there until the end of 1920, when they moved to Paris. Paris was their base for the next five years, when they travelled extensively in Europe. Morris also studied at the Academies Moderne and La Grande Chaumiere. Morris had successful exhibitions in London in 1924 and 1926, and later in that year they settled back in Britain. After staying with his sister Nancy Morris in Corfe, Morris and Lett-Haines found a studio in London at Great Ormond Street to which they moved in 1927. Morris became a member of the London Artists' Association and the Seven and Five Society, for which he was proposed by Winifred Nicholson and seconded by

Ben Nicholson Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscapes, and still-life. He was one of the leading promoters of abstract art in England. Backg ...

. He became especially friendly with the painter Christopher Wood, and renewed friendship with Frances Hodgkins. At the end of the 1920s Morris became involved with much commercial work designing textiles for Cresta Silks with Paul Nash and posters for

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

and BP.

Country life

Morris chose the country life to pursue his passion for horticulture. Early in 1929 Morris and his companion took the lease of Pound Farm, Higham,

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and in February 1930 they gave up the London studio. In 1932 the owner of Pound Farm, Vivien Gribble, who was for a while a student, died and left it to Morris. Morris had resigned from the Seven and Five Society in 1930 and he resigned from the London Artists' Association in 1933. There were many visitors at Pound Farm, including Frances Hodgkins, Barbara Hepworth and John Skeaping. Joan Warburton who was a student described Pound Farm as a paradise, mainly because of the spectacular gardens which Morris developed. She was also impressed by their spectacular parties. Morris often went painting in his native South

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and in 1935 at the time of

the Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

was moved by the plight of the people of South Wales Valleys. He initiated a major touring exhibition of Welsh art in 1935, and was a regular teacher at Mary Horsfall's arts' centre at

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

. In 1935 he painted two large flower murals on board the liner ''Queen Mary''. In late 1937 Morris and Lett-Haines joined the Hadleigh Labour Party after attending a meeting addressed by Professor Catlin.

East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing

Morris and Lett-Haines opened the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Dedham in April 1937. Within a year they had 60 students.

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was inf ...

was one of his most noted students. Other students include

Maggi Hambling Margaret J. Hambling (born 23 October 1945) is a British artist. Though principally a painter, her best-known public works are the sculptures '' A Conversation with Oscar Wilde'' and '' A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft'' in London, and the ...

Waveney Frederick and Joan Warburton. In 1939 the building at Dedham was destroyed by fire (with several of Morris's paintings also destroyed) to the conspicuous delight of Alfred Munnings. By the end of the year the school was re-established at Benton End. Benton End was a rambling 'Suffolk Pink' farmhouse on the outskirts of Hadleigh, set in 3 or of orchard. Dating from the 16th century, the house is reputed to have been designed by Sir Peter Cheyney and since 1950 it has been Grade II* listed. Morris was intolerant of cruelty to animals and at Benton End had a running feud with a local gamekeeper who shot cats and dogs – until the latter tripped over his

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

and killed himself. His housekeeper was Millie Hayes (née Gomersall, 1916–2001). She studied at Benton End under Morris and his 1936 portrait of her was displayed at The Minories Art Gallery,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

. In 1941 she exhibited the painting ''Landscape from the Garden'' at the Ipswich Art Club. Another painting ''Hadleigh'' was sold at auction by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

in 1997. Morris painted her portrait a second time in 1964 and she was a beneficiary under his will. She died at Ipswich in 2001 and a small commemorative headstone is located at the back of Morris's in Hadleigh cemetery.

Horticulture and other interests

In addition to running the school, Morris indulged his passion for plants. He grew about 1,000 new Iris seedlings each year and opened Benton End to display his collection. He produced at least 90 named varieties, 45 of which were registered with the American Iris Society. Some were sold commercially and exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show. Many of his named varieties carried the prefix "Benton", including 'Benton Menace' named after his cats, and 'Benton Rubeo', named for his pet

macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...

. He also used to walk the fields and hedgerows searching for softer colour variants of poppies. Morris's work as a

horticulturalist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

resulted in a number of plants being named after him. Morris bred birds as a hobby and his expertise informed his paintings of them. Discussing his ''Peregrine Falcons'' (1942), he explained he was attempting to "provoke a lively sympathy with the mood of the birds which ornithological exactitude may tend to destroy."

Later life

In 1946, along with Henry Collins, Lett-Haines, John Nash and Roderic Barrett, Morris became one of the founders of Colchester Art Society and later the society's president. Cedic Morris gravestone

In 1947 the Morris baronetcy came to his father from a distant cousin three months before his death and Cedric Morris succeeded his father in the same year to become the 9th baronet. He became a lecturer at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

in 1950. From about 1975 Morris virtually gave up painting because of failing eyesight. He died on 8 February 1982. His former pupil, Maggi Hambling, visited him on the day before his death and afterwards drew a portrait of him. His grave, near that of Arthur Lett-Haines, in Friar's Road Cemetery, Hadleigh is marked by a Welsh slate headstone cut by Donald Simpson. In 1984 the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

held a retrospective exhibition of Morris's work.

Painting style

Cedric Morris had a distinctive and often rather primitive post-Impressionist style, and painted portraits, landscapes and very decorative

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

s of flowers and birds. In his analysis of Morris's paintings, Richard Morphet has suggested that the "unusual force of Cedric's paintings derives from the projection of the subject through a dynamic economy in combination with an acute sense of pictorial realism." As a portrait painter he produced notable studies of subjects such as Arthur Lett-Haines (1919; 1925; 1928), Anita Berry (1920),

Hilaire Hiler Hilaire Harzberg Hiler (July 16, 1898 – January 19, 1966) was an American artist, psychologist, and color theoretician who worked in Europe and United States during the mid-20th century. At home and abroad, Hiler worked as a muralist, jazz mu ...

(1920), John Banting (1923), Rupert Doone (ca. 1923), Mary Butts (1924), Barbara Hepworth (1931), Arthur Elton (1931), Rosamond Lehmann (1932), Audrey Debenham (1935), The Sisters . Byng Stamper and C. Byng Lucas(1935), Gladys Hynes (1936), Millie Gomersall/Hayes (1936; 1966),

(1940) (who painted him in the same year (

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

)), Richard Chopping (1941), Mrs Ernest Freud (1942?), Belle of Bloomsbury (1948), as well as a striking portrait of himself in 1919.

Personal life

As soon as they met on Armistice Night in 1918, Morris fell in love with Arthur Lett-Haines. He moved in with Lett-Haines and his wife, Gertrude Aimee Lincoln. Gertrude returned to her native America, and the two men spent the rest of their lives together, although both had affairs, Morris with the painter John Aldridge and artist Paul Odo Cross (1898-1963, who financed the purchase of Benton End) and Lett-Haines with Stella Hamilton and Kathleen Hale.

Exhibitions

The exhibition "Cedric Morris" was held at

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

Gallery 28 March - 13 March 1984. Guide Published by order of the Trustees 1984, Tate Gallery Publications ISBN 0 946590 06 0 The exhibition "Cedric Morris: Beyond the Garden Wall" was held at

Philip Mould Philip Jonathan Clifford Mould (born March 1960) is an English art dealer, London gallery owner, art historian, writer and broadcaster. He has made a number of major art discoveries, including works of Thomas Gainsborough, Anthony van Dyck, Antho ...

's gallery on Pall Mall, from 18 April-22 July 2018. A simultaneous exhibition, 'Cedric Morris: Artist Plantsman' was also held at the Garden Museum in Lambeth. The exhibition "Life with Art: Benton End and the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing" was held at

Firstsite Firstsite is a visual arts organisation based in Colchester, Essex, which opened in 1993 as Colchester and District Visual Arts Trust, changing its name to Firstsite in 1995. Its current building was opened in 2011. It was the national Art Fun ...

, in

, Essex, from 11 December 2021 to 18 April 2022, featuring Morris' work together with other artists associated with his time at Benton End. In 2022 a permanent exhibition of 15 of his works, primarily portraits, was installed at Gainsborough's House,

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

's childhood home in Sudbury. Some of the paintings were donated by Maggi Hambling. Morris had donated a painting of a lily to the Gainsborough’s House Society during his lifetime in 1957. In May 2025, an exhibition on Morris' flower paintings titled
Garden To Canvas: Cedric Morris & Benton End
' will be held at Philip Mould & Co, in Pall Mall, London.

List of some works in public galleries

*''Frances Hodgkins'' rawing 1917,

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

, London *''Self Portrait'', 1919, National Museum Cardiff (NMGW) *''A Roman Cafe'' rawing 1922, National Museum Cardiff *''Patisseries and a croissant'', 1922, Tate *''Experiment in textures'', 1923, Tate *''Landscape:Vallee de L'Oueze'', 1925, National Museum Cardiff *''From a window at 45 Brook Street London'', 1926 *''Djerba No.2'', 1926,

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

, New Zealand *''Breton Landscape'', 1927, Huddersfield Art Gallery *''Portrait of Frances Hodgkins'', 1928, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand *''Herstmonceux Church'', 1928,

Towner Gallery Towner Eastbourne (formerly Towner Art Gallery) is an art gallery located in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The gallery hosts one of the most significant public art collections in the Southern England, South of England ...

, Eastbourne *''Llanmadoc Hill, Gower'', 1928, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea *''Sparrowhawks'', 1929, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea *''Self Portrait'', 1930,

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

*''Solva'', 1934, Norwich *''Caeharris Post Office, Dowlais'', 1935, Cyfarthfa Castle Museum, Merthyr Tydfil *''The Tips, Dowlais'', 1935, Cyfarthfa Castle Museum, Merthyr Tydfil *''Antonia White'', 1936, National Portrait Gallery, London *''Millie Gomersall'', 1936,

The Minories, Colchester The Minories is a Grade II listed building and gardens situated at the east end of High Street in Colchester, Essex, England, near Hollytrees Museum, Hollytrees, Gate House and Colchester Castle. It currently houses The Minories Galleries. Ea ...

*''Lake Patzcuaro'', 1939, National Museum Cardiff *''David and Barbara Carr'', 1940, Tate Britain *''Stoke by Nayland Church'', 1940, National Museum Cardiff *''Lucian Freud'', 1941, Tate Britain *''Heron'', 1941, Astley Cheetham Art Gallery, Tameside *''Peregrine Falcons'', 1942, Tate Britain *''Iris Seedlings'', 1943, Tate Britain *''Eggs'', 1944, Tate Britain *''Pontypridd'', 1945, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea *''Belle of Bloomsbury'', 1948, Tate *Paintings by Cedric Morris, October, 1959,

*Sir Cedric Morris Portraits 1919–1974, October – November 1974, The Minories, Colchester *Colchester Art Society Sponsored Exhibition 'Sir Cedric Morris', 13 September-19 October 1980, The Minories, Colchester

List of plants named after Cedric Morris

*'' Geranium sanguineum'' 'Cedric Morris' hardy

geranium ''Geranium'' is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, with the gre ...

*'' Narcissus minor'' 'Cedric Morris' narcissus *'' Lathyrus odoratus'' 'Cedric Morris' sweet pea *''

Papaver rhoeas ''Papaver rhoeas'', with common names including common poppy, corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, Flanders poppy, red poppy, and Odai, is an annual herbaceous species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is native to north Afr ...

'' 'Cedric Morris' poppy *''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: Plants and animals * ''Rosa'' (plant), the genus of roses * Rosa (sea otter), a sea otter that has become popular on the internet * Rosa (cow), a Spanish-born cow People * Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) * San ...

'' x hybridum 'Cedric Morris' rambling rose *'' Zauschneria californica cana'' 'Sir Cedric Morris' California fuchsia / Zauschneria

Arms

References

Bibliography

*Cedric Morris, 'Concerning flower painting', in ''The Studio''; vol. 123 no.590 (1942 May), pp. 121–123 *Ronald Blythe, 'Sir Cedric Morris', in ''People'', ed. Susan Hill (1983), pp. 25–31 *Richard Morphet, ''Cedric Morris The Tate Gallery'' xhibition catalogue(1984) *''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990) *''Benton End Remembered'' by G. Reynolds (2002) *''Cedric Morris and Lett Haines: Teaching, Art and Life'', by B. Tufnell, N. Thornton, H. Waters (2003) *''Cedric Morris a Lett Haines: Dysgu, Celfyddyd a Bywyd'', by B. Tufnell (2003) *Richard Morphet, 'Morris, Sir Cedric Lockwood, ninth baronet (1889–1982)', in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Sept 2004) *N. Hepburn, ''Cedric Morris & Christopher Wood A forgotten friendship'' (2012)

External links

*
Cedric Morris
at tate.org
Image of LFreud's portrait of CMorris
Amgueddfa Cymru: National Museum Wales, Art Collections Online; NMW A 12875; n.d.
Cedric Morris:Beyond the Garden Wall
exhibition page, includes a series of videos {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Cedric 1889 births 1982 deaths Artists from Swansea People educated at Charterhouse School People educated at St Cyprian's School Welsh male painters Academics of the Royal College of Art Members of The Welsh Group Morris, Sir Cedric, 9th Baronet Artists' Rifles soldiers Welsh LGBTQ painters 20th-century Welsh educators 20th-century Welsh painters 20th-century Welsh male artists People from Higham, Babergh Académie Delécluse alumni British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Swansea Burials in Suffolk Territorial Force soldiers