Robert Claiborne Morris (American, born July 5, 1961) is a painter known for his maritime landscapes, inspired by his previous career as an executive for the Georgia Ports Authority. Born in Washington, D.C., Morris travelled extensively across the U.S. as child visiting all of the continental United States and creating landscapes and writing stories everywhere he went. While studying painting at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington and Tulane University in New Orleans, Morris developed his unique approach of combining his writing and artistic skills to impact viewers and readers across the country.

His writings have appeared in publications such as The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The New Orleans Times Picayune and The Boston Globe. Tens of thousands of Americans have viewed his art in museums, galleries and libraries with a large range of informed, inspired and emotional responses. His collaboration with the Pulitzer Prize winning author Douglas A. Blackmon, filmmaker Sam Pollard and the late artist Thornton Dial, among others, have helped to bring the worlds or arts, letters and history closer together.

In January 2012, Morris was honored with a major, one-man exhibition at the prestigious Telfair Museum in Savannah, Ga. Since that time his work has been exhibited in museums, galleries and libraries in cities such as Atlanta, Birmingham, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C.

In his most recent works, Morris paints from his studio on Tybee Island off the coast of Georgia and aboard his floating studio, a classic Swedish cruiser “Grace” he brought to the Port of Savannah from Stockholm. His works depict scenes of vessels, the sea and coast, focusing his well-trained brushes between illusion and reality. Morris is currently preparing for a major one-man show at the Ships of the Sea Museum in October of 2023.

Over the course of his career as an artist, journalist and executive, Morris has strived to preserve the human spirit, the beauty of the natural world and impact how viewers and readers perceive their history and therefore existence.

PAST SHOWS / ACCOLADES
2023 - OCTOBER: Outward Bound - Ships of the Sea Museum / Savannah, GA
2023 - MARCH / JUNE: Slavery by Another Name - York W. Bailey Museum at Penn Center / St. Helena Island, SC
2016 - MAY: Departures - Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum at William Scarbrough House & Gardens / Savannah, GA
2014 - MARCH / MAY: Savannah Calling - Ships of the Sea Museum / Savannah, GA
2014 - FEBRUARY: Slavery by Another Name: Paintings and Assemblages - Stanback Museum, South Carolina State University / Orangeburg, SC
2013 -JUNE / NOVEMBER: Hush the Fields - Cincinnati Museum Center / Cincinnati, OH
2013 - MARCH / JUNE: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center / Cincinnati, OH
2012 NOVEMBER - 2013 JANUARY: NBAF Annual Study Tour To Penn Center - 30th Heritage Days Celebration / St. Helena Insland, SC
2012 - JULY: Slavery by Another Name: Paintings and Assemblages - National Black Arts Festival - Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery / Atlanta, GA
2012 - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER: Slavery by Another Name: Paintings and Assemblages - Auburn Avenue Research Library / Atlanta, GA
2012 - JANUARY / MARCH: Slavery by Another Name: Paintings and Assemblages - Telfair Academy / Savannah, GA
2010 - FEBRUARY: Re-Enslavement Revisited: An Exhibition of the Art of Terry Dixon & Robert Morris - Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library / Washington, D.C.
2009 - MAY: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II - The Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum / Savannah, GA