Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Morton, Doug, 1926-
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Description area
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History
Visual artist Douglas G. Morton is one of the senior academic art administrators in Canada. He was born on November 26, 1926 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he received his primary and secondary education. After a short stint in the Canadian Army in 1945, he studied art at the Winnepeg School of art (1946), the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (1946-1948), the Academie Julian, L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (1949), and the Camberwell School of Art in London (1950-1951). He also studied at the famous Emma Lake workshops of the early 1960s under Barnett Newman, Herman Cherry, Kenneth Noland, Clement Greenberg, and others. Morton's professional artistic career began in Winnipeg in 1946 as a commercial artist, and continued in 1951-53 as curator for the Calgary Allied Arts Centre. Although involved in the business world as vice-president and manager of MacKay-Morton Ltd. from 1954 to 1967, Morton remained active in his artistic endeavours. His work was shown in the National Gallery of Canada's "Five Painters from Regina" exhibition in 1961. Morton and the other "Regina five" members, Ken Lochhead, Ron Bloore, Ted Godwin and Art McKay, produced vibrant abstract works. Morton subsequently produced such important works as "Brownscape" (1961), "Fractured Black" (1964), "Green Centre" (1967) and "Token" (1970), to name a few. His paintings have been shown in galleries across Canada in one-man and group exhibitions, and are represented in various public and corporate collections. Morton's academic career began when he joined the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus in 1967 as Director of Visual Arts and Associate Professor of Art. He was also Acting Chairman of Fine Arts. He held a variety of posts during his tenure as Professor of Art at York University from 1969 to 1980, including Associate Dean and Director of the Graduate M.F.A. Program (1973-76), Acting Chairman, Department of Visual Arts (1978), and Vice Chairman of the Senate (1979). Morton was the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria (1980-85), and President, Alberta College of Art (1985-87). Morton has served on Canada council juries and committees, and has taught at the Banff School of Fine Arts. He has received grants and awards for his work, and he has been active in various academic and arts organizations. He and his wife, Mickey, have six children - five daughters and a son.