Sister Gertrude Morgan (April 7, 1900 – July 8, 1980) was a self-taught African-American artist, musician, poet and preacher. Born in LaFayette, Alabama, she relocated to New Orleans in 1939, where she lived and worked until her death in 1980. Sister Morgan achieved critical acclaim during her lifetime for her folk art paintings. Her work has been included in many groundbreaking exhibitions of visionary and folk art from the 1970s onwards.

Early life

Sister Morgan was born Gertrude Williams in Lafayette, Alabama, to mother Frances "Fannie" Williams and father Edward Williams.

For reasons unknown, Sister Morgan left school before completing the third grade. where she worked as a servant and nursemaid in a private home.

In 1938 a second revelation followed, in the form of a voice that said, "Go-o-o-o-o, Preacher, tell it to the World". It was in this year that she left Columbus, first for Opelika, Alabama, then to Mobile and possibly Montgomery. She worked as a nursemaid and nanny in Opelika and Mobile, and possibly began work as a healer and street prophet during this time. Her paintings depict religious subject matter almost exclusively, illustrating scenes from scripture. The Book of Revelation was of special significance, and provided subject matter that she would return to over and over again in her work.

Style

Similar to other self-taught artists, Sister Morgan used simple forms to depict the human figure. Her works are characterized by their lack of the use of formal techniques such as perspective and definition of light and shadow, giving them a flat, two dimensional quality. She painted and drew using acrylics, tempera, ballpoint pen, watercolors, crayon, colored and lead pencils and felt tip markers. Using inexpensive materials she had at hand, Sister Morgan painted on paper, toilet rolls, plastic pitchers, paper megaphones, scrap wood, lampshades, paper fans and styrofoam trays. The fact that she was self-taught, coupled with her choice of materials as well as her style and subject matter have led her to be characterized as a naive, folk, visionary, vernacular and outsider artist.

Subject matter

Originally conceiving her artworks as appendages to her gospel teachings, Sister Morgan's paintings are often inscribed with passages from scripture and lyrics to popular gospel songs. Similarly, her paintings that document her childhood, early adulthood and first years in New Orleans are inscribed with the narratives of specific events, that often reference her evangelical activities.

Morgan particularly favored the Book of Revelation. William A. Fagaly writes, "The apocalyptic text of the Book of Revelation offers a plethora of visionary images: the Apocalypse and its four horsemen, the Antichrist, the Whore of Babylon, the Beast (with the mark 666), the heavenly book of seven seals, Armageddon, the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, the millennial kingdom of Christ on Earth, and the New Jerusalem." Borenstein cultivated an audience for her work by introducing her paintings to collectors, artists, museums and galleries. Lee Friedlander and Andy Warhol were both fans of her work. Warhol was an occasional correspondents, while Friedlander used Sister Morgan as a subject in his photographs. Her artwork Let's Make a Record from the 1970s is in the permanent collection of Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Major exhibitions

In 1970, Sister Morgan's work was shown at the Arts and Science Centre in Baton Rouge, LA.

In 1973 her work was included in the exhibition Louisiana Folk Paintings at the Museum of American Folk Art (now the American Folk Art Museum) in New York.

In 2004, the first major retrospective of Morgan's work The Tools of Her Ministry: the Art of Sister Gertrude Morgan opened at the Folk Art Museum in New York City. The exhibition was curated by William A. Fagaly, former Director of the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA). This exhibition then traveled to NOMA and later to The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago. The exhibition was accompanied by the publication of a catalogue containing essays by William A. Fagaly, Jason A. Berry and Helen M. Shannon.

End of painting

Sister Morgan's art brought her fame and notoriety, something she reportedly both enjoyed and felt conflicted about. In 1973 she announced that the Lord had ordered her to cease painting in order to concentrate on her preaching and poetry. and created a new, young audience for Sister Gertrude Morgan. The album artwork featured her paintings.

Works or publications

  • Morgan, Gertrude. Let's Make a Record. [New Orleans, Louisiana]: Preservation Hall Recordings, 2004. Recorded live in the Prayer Room, 511 Royal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Britt, King, and Gertrude Morgan. King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan. [New York]: Ropeadope, 2005. Sister Gertrude Morgan originally recorded at the Preservation Hall, New Orleans, 1968. King Britt recorded at the Hut and Nautica, Philadelphia.
  • Levin, Gail. Art in Progress: Sister Gertrude (2004)

Death

On July 8, 1980, Sister Morgan died in her sleep at her home in the Lower Ninth Ward.