artist!!!

ray madrid · Joined: 07 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

Hi, does anyone know anything about an australian artist named Morriss
Kennedy, i believe that he won the Grant prize in 1965?

bigbunny2007 · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 307 Location: Melbourne

There is a Maurice Kennedy of wa ,bunbury prize 1966 and other prizes,Rep:bunbury & collie regional galleries,mostly watercolour.

ray madrid · Joined: 07 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

T he spelling is Morriss Kennedy, some of his paintings appeared to be done inside a car looking out, or through the rear view mirror, some of his paintings were featured in a gallery somewhere in Sydney, they had a web site that no longer exists or i cant find it! thanks!

Sue Guilfoyle · Joined: 25 Jan 2010 Posts: 1

MORRISS KENNEDY

Morriss Sydney Kennedy, the son of a blacksmith with Prussian descendants, was born at Kaniva in far western Victoria on 4 September 1920.

An Art Lecturer and Artist, Kennedy's natural flair for encouraging students and trainee teachers helped develop many promising artistic careers.

He moved to Melbourne in 1940. His various jobs included being a graphic artist at a newspaper.

At 30, he enrolled in a fine arts course at a Seventh Day Adventist College north of Sydney. Two years later he began a 25-year stint as senior art lecturer at the nearby Avondale College of Advanced Education.

In 1953, he married trainee lawyer Daphne McCartney. They had two children.

After a full life of creativity and love, artist Morriss Kennedy, 87, died in a NSW nursing home of natural causes on 2 May 2008. He was survived by his widow, Daphne, two children and two grandchildren.

Kennedy lived a long and prodigious life which included but was not limited to painting, sketching, sculpture, pottery and photography.

Famous Australian Painter James Gleeson critiqued Kennedy’s early work whilst writing for The Sun Herald in 1966.

Although Gleeson’s review was disparaging, it is interesting to note the striking similarities between their work, albeit with one obvious difference; Kennedy’s paintings are devoid of Gleeson's "tortured psyche". One may say that Kennedy’s work shines with a joy for life that Gleeson's work often lacked.

A copy of Gleeson’s article is available from the National Library of Australia.

A sample of Kennedy’s drawing are depicted in the publication Sketches of Avondale by Morris Kennedy [Cooranbong, NSW 1951]. Examples of his paintings can be found at http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=401930880&albumId=794495\

blownmotor12cc · Joined: 28 Sep 2011 Posts: 1

Hi Sue,thank you so very much for the imformation on Morriss Kennedy,
it is very informative...
i love his art! Regards Ray.

W John Hackwell · Joined: 17 Jan 2012 Posts: 1 Location: Melbourne

Hi there Ray

I too love Morriss' work including the 'Through the Window' series that he did. And I loved him as a person. Over the years, I enjoyed many visits to his studio at Martinsville to discuss art with him and to engage his delightful wife and companion, Daphne.

I was a student at Avondale in the late 1960s and enjoyed many painting excursions with him. Over the years we remained close.

In 1978, Morrie came to the PNG Highlands where I was living at the time with my family for a painting holiday. It was there that he introduced me to the Liquitex range of Modula paints which he was so enjoying.

In 1989, Morrie completed a magnificently illustrated manuscript titled 'Art and the Visual idioms' in which he outlined his philosophy of painting. I happen to think that the views expressed in this work will one day revolutionize the way art is displayed and judged.

In 1999, my wife and I purchased Morrie's entire personal collection of paintings and drawings - some 2,000 odd pieces. This included a series of paintings completed in the late 1980s that he had not exhibited and, in my view, represent the pinnacle of his long painting career.

I am hoping to be able to place this collection in an appropriate public gallery.

In my opinion, Australia will one day have to move many so-called masterpieces aside to include this man's incredible oeuvre.

Best regards

W John Hackwell