The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present "The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York," a focused exhibition of works by George Morrison (1919–2000), a Native American artist from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Running from July 17, 2025, to May 31, 2026, at The Met Fifth Avenue, the show highlights Morrison’s early years in New York City, where he became a key figure in the American Abstract Expressionist movement. It features paintings, drawings, and archival materials from his time at the Art Students League and his interactions with peers like Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, tracing his evolution from figurative work to abstract automatism infused with Ojibwe aesthetics.
This exhibition matters because it corrects a historical oversight, giving long-overdue institutional recognition to a Native American artist who helped define Abstract Expressionism yet has been marginalized in mainstream art narratives. By centering Morrison’s Indigenous perspective within the New York School, the show expands the understanding of American modernism and underscores the diversity of voices that shaped the movement. It also provides a rare opportunity to examine rarely seen archival materials, deepening public engagement with Morrison’s legacy and his fusion of personal heritage with avant-garde practice.