Frances Morris
CBE
Frances Morris in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
Morris in 2018
BornJanuary 1959 (age 64–65)
London, England
Alma mater
OccupationGallerist
TitleDirector, Tate Modern
PredecessorChris Dercon
SpouseMartin Caiger-Smith
Children3

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

Education

Frances Morris was born in London.[2] She attended a state school, Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, at the time a direct grant grammar, 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, Morris 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]

In 2018, Morris was part of the selection committee that nominated Ruangrupa as artistic director of Documenta fifteen.[18]

Other activities

Recognition

Morris was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the arts.[21] She also holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Essex, Edinburgh and York, from the Royal College of Art London and UAL.

Personal life

Morris is married to Martin Caiger-Smith,[22] Head of the MA Curating the Art Museum programme at the Courtauld Institute of Art.[23] 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. ↑ Catherine Hickley (16 July 2018), Documenta to name new artistic director by early 2019 The Art Newspaper.
  19. 1 2 3 Tate. "Tate Modern Director | Tate". Tate. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  20. ↑ Alex Greenberger (15 January 2016), Frances Morris Named Director of Tate Modern ARTnews.
  21. ↑ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N10.
  22. ↑ "King's College Online Community - Frances Morris (KC1978)". Kingsmembers.org. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  23. ↑ "Martin Caiger-Smith - The Courtauld Institute of Art". Courtauld.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
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