GALERIE ERIC KLINKHOFF

James Wilson Morrice was born into an affluent Montreal family in 1865.   From 1882 to 1889, he studied law at Osgoode Hall.   While studying law his interest in painting was growing and he began to paint.  One of his works was accepted at the 1888 annual exhibiton of the Royal Canadian Academy and two were hung in the 1889 spring show of the Montreal Art Association.  At age 24, Morrice decided to give up law and fully devote himself to his art.

In 1890, Morrice left Montreal for Paris, making this city his permanent home.  He first enrolled at the Académie Julian and then studied with Henri Harpignies.  Morrice also traveled extensively, throughout France and later Venice, North Africa, the West Indies, the Caribbean and Tunisia in search of new inspiration.   He met Matisse on a visit to Tangier in 1911 and again in 1912, and one can see this artist's influence in Morrice's later works.  Until his father's death in 1914, Morrice also returned to Montreal most winters to visit his family and exhibit his works.  It was during one of these visits that Morrice met Canadian painter Maurice Cullen in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, and together they made excursions into the Quebec landscape to paint.

Morrice  established himself in the English-speaking literary and art circles of Paris.  Constantly frequenting popular cafes and restaraunts,  he befriended  painters and writers such as James McNeill Whistler, Arnold Bennett and Somerset Maugham.  Both Bennett and Maugham portrayed Morrice as a character for their novels. 

In 1896, Morrice began to use small wooden panels for his oil sketches, referred to as pochades,  some no bigger than a postcard.  He apparently completed about 500 of these sketches, developing maybe 200 of these into larger canvases.  By the early 1900s Morrice had achieved great success internationally, regularly exhibiting in the annual exhibitions in Paris. He began in 1896 with the Salon National shows, then from 1905 to 1913, exhibited with the Salon d’Automne and from 1908 to 1913 with the Société Nouvelle. He also exhibited in London, Brussels, Scotland and the United States.

Morrice remained in France for the majority of World War I, and in 1918 he was commissioned to paint the Canadian troops in Picardy. From 1919 and onwards, Morrice frequently headed for warmer climates.  His taste for drink affected his health and it is believed that he did very little painting after 1922.   He passed away in Tunisia on January 23, 1924.