This summer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present The Magical City: George Morrisons New York, opening Thursday, July 17. Born in Chippewa City, a remote Native American village on the shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota, George Morrison (Wah-wah-ta-ga-nah-gah-boo and Gwe-ki-ge-nah-gah-boo, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, 19192000) overcame challenges, poverty, a life-threatening childhood illness, social isolation, and racial and cultural barriers to become a leader of the American Abstract Expressionist movement, which he collaboratively defined both publicly and behind the scenes. The exhibition is made possible by The Mets Fund for Diverse Art Histories and the Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore Foundation. George Morrisons life and work has inspired generations of artists, said Max Hollein, The Mets Marina Kellen French director and CEO. Anchored by works from his time in New York, this meaningful exhibition celebrates Morrisons creative achievements and explores how his American Indigenous perspective shaped his unique cultural legacy. Morrisons influence on the American Abstract Expressionist movement began in September 1943, when he arrived in New York City by train to study at the Art Students League on a fine arts scholarship. Immersing himself in the citys vibrant cultural scenes, Morrison studied painting and drawing, contributed to numerous exhibitions and publications, and openly challenged the mainstream art establishment of his generation. He also formed important connections with peer artists including Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Lois Dodd, and Louise Nevelson, among others. Morrisons deep appreciation for urban life, specifically industrial landscapes, jazz, and literature, shaped his artistic practice and imagery and permanently impacted the trajectory of the New York School. Technically trained in figure drawing, portraiture, landscape painting, and graphic arts, Morrison shifted to abstract approaches in his New York years, specifically automatism, propelling his unique visual language, a fusion of his interest in the subconscious, Ojibwe aesthetic sensibilities, and ties to his homelands. The artists involvement with the rise of Abstract Expressionism enhanced the movements broader American context by imbuing it with a distinctive Indigenous perspective. Between 1943 and 1970, Morrison lived and worked in New York and regularly exhibited in group shows and solo exhibitions. His work was consistently noted by well-known art critics. A 1953 Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the University of Aix-Marseilles in France, followed by a John Jay Whitney Fellowship the same year, earned him international recognition. Morrisons prolific career lasted until 2000, long after his return to Minnesota from New York. It culminated with his famous Horizon Series, a suite of small-scale oil and acrylic paintings that synthesized his technical skill and creative imagination with his love for his home on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, along the north shore of Lake Superior. Patricia Marroquin Norby (P urhpecha), associate curator of Native American Art in The Mets American Wing, said, This celebration of George Morrisons work at The Met is long overdue. We are thrilled to honor the artists major contributions to the New York School with this exhibition and publication. Morrison strongly impacted the development of the American Abstract Expressionist movement as well as the work of his professional colleagues, artists who respected him as a leader and a voice for their generation. This exhibition offers an important opportunity to engage deeply with Morrisons evolving practice, supported by rarely seen archival materials that reveal the depth and complexity of his artistic journey. The exhibition asserts Morrisons significant contributions to the New York School and explores his urban aesthetic inspirations that were rooted in his love of New York, which he called a Magical City. Featuring 35 of his paintings and drawings, including a number of generous loans from the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the exhibition culminates in his Horizon Series. It also features rare archival material that places Morrison at the heart of the Abstract Expressionist movement in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. The exhibition will debut two works recently acquired by The Met: White Painting (1965), the first oil painting by Morrison to enter the museums collection, in 2021, and Construction in Fantasy (1953), a gouache-and-ink drawing that the artist created in France on the Cte dAzur, acquired by The Met in 2023. To learn more, visit www.metmuseum.org.