Expressions in Blue – Dorothy Morlan in the 1920s
Lucille Morehouse, in her Indianapolis Star art column on March 8, 1920, covering the current Indiana Artists exhibit at the Herron Institute, noted that the prize winning works that year were mostly smaller in size than in past years. The two main winners were both small watercolors; William Forsyth's Woods in Autumn and Francis F. Brown's A Cloudy Day. Three artists were noted as Honorable Mentions including Dorothy Morlan for her small in size canvas, about 9 by 12 inches, Winter Evening. Morehouse notes the picture's small size, but large vision, depicting “...a wide stretch of blue-shadowed snowy field.”
A lingering post war thrift and rationing hangover may explain, in part, the downsized art.
A Meeting of Kindred Neighbors.
A year and a half later, the current artistic inclinations of Morlan are described in a long July 10, 1921 Star column by Lucille Morehouse titled 'Studio of Local Artists Reveals Treasures – Work of Dorothy Morlan Shows Wealth of Unusual Talent.'
The art critic's fondness and respect for the artist is demonstrated by the lavish attention and poetic prose she used to open the article, which due to its beauty of description and stunning time-capsule effect is quoted in full, as follows:
“An Irvington studio, tucked away among the vines and shrubbery in the vicinity of Pleasant run, forms the workshop of an artist whose career has been one of serious study. Canvases large and canvases small bear evidence of the steps that have been taken, of the periods of change and development that have followed one another in logical order as advancement was made. From the time in girlhood days, with its usual dreams of books to be written, when there was a decision to take a few art lessons in order to make the decorative drawings that would illustrate the printed pages, until the present day, when big Indiana landscapes are being painted on little rectangular pieces of canvas, an art talent whose motive has been subjective, rather than objective, has been seeking to express the individuality of the artist while interpreting the beauty in nature. We are taught that all art is an attempt at self-expression. But we know that all art is not to the same degree stamped with the artist's individuality.
It was one of those days when the thermometer was said to have registered 110 degrees on the street the middle of last week that I lifted unwilling feet over hot cement sidewalks a distance which, in usual weather, would have meant about a half mile walk, but which seemed immeasurable increased in the immense heat. A short stretch of cinder walk offered an alluring turn from the glare of the pavement at Lowell avenue. A few steps brought me to number 6031, which marked the studio of Dorothy Morlan. This two-roomed studio, in the yard, separate from the dwelling house, was built several years ago, but it so happened that this was my first visit to it.”
The article explains to the reader that despite Morlan's recent sparsity of exhibition in local shows, indeed it cites her decision to skip the upcoming Indiana Artists exhibition at Herron, she remained active and busy in her artistic creations, as attested by the many works, large and small, on the walls and in the corners of her studio.
Her most recent 'period' of work are the smaller canvases along the line of Winter Evening discussed a year prior in The Star. The eight or ten such small pictures of the flat open fields surrounding Irvington, showcase Morlan's unique talent, as Lucille Morehouse describes, “...in the small pictures (Morlan's) representation of the big things in nature impresses with a feeling of vastness not always found in a landscape painting whose dimensions are several times larger.”
Morehouse contrasts the newer work with her earlier solo show some twelve or fourteen years prior, which included “...bright, joyous canvases painted at Hanover – scenes along the Ohio River, interpretations of morning mists and the sparkle of sunlight on the water and the coming of springtime along wooded hillsides.”
Morehouse cites Dorothy Morlan as giving credit, in part, for her “strong feeling for the big things in nature” to the influence of the painters Edward W. Redfield and Walter Elmer Schofield, both of whom had works represented in the permanent collection of Herron Institute, and both of whom painted “big winter landscapes” with a “broad, vigorous brush.”
Morehouse lauds Morlan for her determined, experimental approach despite the influence of those and other artists who she held in high esteem. “Be influenced, but do not imitate,” Morehouse proclaims, as a could-be Morlan mantra.
Lucille Morehouse provides some final insider advise to her readers when she says about visiting an artist's studio as opposed to seeing the work hanging in a gallery or museum. “There is a sort of studio atmosphere, a feeling of intimacy and a charm of companionship with the artist that is wholly lacking when one views the pictures of many artists in a large exhibition. Try it and see!”
Less Exhibits, More Honors – Morlan's 'December.'
Morlan's hiatus from exhibition continues over the next years. In late summer 1923, she is mentioned in Star coverage of the Indiana State Fair art exhibition, not as an exhibitor, but as one of the many no-shows. Perhaps at that period of time, the State Fair exhibit was just getting established as a serious venue for Indiana's best art and artists.
On January 5, 1924, on the front page of the 'photogravure' section of the Sunday Star, an interesting full-page pictorial, depicting an interesting pastiche of Indiana geography, culture, history and architecture, is presented in a piece tied together by its title, Four Corners of Indiana.
Photogravure was a popular etching and printing method at that time, which resulted in images with subtle gradations in tone and a rich velvety texture distinct from standard photographs of the period.
Four Corners showed images of the farthest reaches of Indiana, northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast, along with two fine contemporary homes, a photo of the last surviving indigenous people of the Miami tribe, an aerial view of Wabash College and two Indiana artists, Dorothy Morlan and Otto Stark, on opposite sides of the page facing each other, standing at their easels. A map of the Indiana and "the heart of Hoosierdom," Monument Circle, is shown at the center of the pictorial spread.
In her March 1, 1924 Star column, Lucille Morehouse covers the 17th Indiana Artists exhibit at Herron Institute. Her observations note the distinctions in the show from those of prior years, describing the work as generally smaller, the landscapes generally fewer – with more still lifes, portraits and figure pieces represented – and also an increase in craft works and sculpture.
For the column, Morehouse speaks generally of the landscape work, not noting the names of individual artists or titles, but her words on one picture seem to be about a Dorothy Morlan picture.
“Outstanding among the landscapes is a big snowy field, with an evergreen or two, when early twilight turns the snow to violet-blue.”
Lucille Morehouse was likely describing the large Morlan canvas, December, that was exhibited in the Indiana Artists show, and a photo of which appeared on a pictorial page of The Indianapolis Star later that month on March 30.
The picture was an important one for Morlan, and Morehouse, as the critic again describes the piece when it appeared hanging in a prime spot, a “place of honor,” in an October 1924 exhibit of five women artists at Pettis Gallery, on the fifth floor of the Pettis Dry Goods store in Indianapolis.
Morehouse reports that the five woman had appeared, some together, some in groups or solo, at various earlier times in venues such as the Indiana Artists at Herron Institute, the Indiana Artists' Club and Woman's Department Club House.
Morehouse says about the five women generally,
“There are neither insanities nor inanities in this exhibition of paintings...” and further, “ ...in both subject and treatment, the work would hold its own with a like number of pictures by a like number of men...”
In discussing the honored Morlan landscape, confirmed to be December later in her column, Morehouse writes,
“The fact that the canvas measures 30x42 inches is not the only thing that makes it big. And the fact that the wide, snow-covered field stretches back and back, apparently for miles, is not the chief thing that makes the picture big. But it is the artist's interpretation of a big solemn mood that stamps the canvas as one of the most distinctive, to my way of thinking, that has been painted recently by any Indiana artist, man or woman.”
Morehouse continues, in part,
“There is a beauty in execution...There is a tenderness, a tranquility, moderating its austerity.”
The First Hoosier Salon, The Valley, and Deaths.
In March 1925, the inaugural Hoosier Salon exhibit opened at the Marshall Field and Co. store in Chicago, Illinois. Dorothy Morlan was represented with a prize winning painting, A Frosty Morning, which later traveled with other representative works and was displayed at the West Baden Springs Hotel in Indiana.
Lucille Morehouse details the first Hoosier Salon, the mechanics of its inception and initial patronage, the prize winners and participants over two articles appearing in The Indianapolis Star on March 8 and March 15, 1925. She describes an unnamed Morlan canvas, presumably Frosty Morning, as “a big sober landscape.” The picture won the $50 Nolan prize.
The Indianapolis Star was running a pictorial series in its paper 'Notable Paintings by Indiana Artists' in 1925. On September 20, No. XIV in the Series was The Valley by Dorothy Morlan. The reproduction image looks almost like a drawing rather than a painting, or perhaps a watercolor, as fine dark lines sketch in the curving flow of river and the roll of hills. There is an etched or hatched quality to the work, a sgraffito of paint marks such that, if oil was used, it appears paint was very sparingly applied, and perhaps in a subtractive manner removed with a palette knife.
Lucille Morehouse reports on the summer activity in the studio of Dorothy Morlan in an October 25, 1925, Star article. She describes,
“ (Morlan) defied the heat of summer as she sifted 'snow' to the canvas, working from sketches she had made last winter, but modifying them so that the completed picture will in no wise be a realistic view along Pleasant Run.”
The following year, on January 10, 1926, The Indianapolis Star posted a death notice for Dorothy Moran's father, age 75 years.
Albert Morlan was husband to Martha, and father to Miss Dorothy, and to sons Percy and Harold, all of Indianapolis, and to son Ralph of Nashville, Indiana.
Albert Morlan died at home on Lowell Avenue in Irvington, and funeral services were private.
An August 1927 'In the World of Art' column by Lucille Morehouse, reports that Dorothy Morlan had spent the summer in California, after the death of her mother in April, to tend to an ailing aunt. Morlan's aunt succumbed to her illness and Morlan was set to return to Indiana that fall. She had suffered the death of father, then mother and finally aunt within a year and a half.
The 21st Indiana Artists exhibit at Herron is reviewed by Lucille Morehouse in the March 4, 1928 Indianapolis Star. She describes Morlan's painting Where the Blue Begins, which, from the sound of Morehouse's description, may have been influenced by Morlan's many close personal losses over the prior months. Morehouse writes,
“Dorothy Morlan displays the largest landscape canvas, a big sober composition of slow-sloping fields with patches of snow under sullen sky and with distant body of water.”
A Group of Her Own.
The inaugural Irvington Artists exhibit at the Carr Hall automobile salesroom on East Washington Street in Irvington took place from November through December 1928. The event was widely covered in the local press which reported over one thousand visitors to the exhibit. A half page pictorial spread was devoted to the Irvington Artists on November 25 in The Star. It included William Forsyth and daughter Constance Forsyth, Helene Hibben and Thomas Hibben, Frederick Polley, Clifton Wheeler and Dorothy Morlan.
Simon P. Baus, Robert Craig and Hilah Wheeler were not included in the pictorial, but did exhibit in the show.
Clifton Wheeler, Hilah Wheeler and Simon P. Baus were all reported to have sold work during the exhibition's run.
Dorothy Morlan was represented by at least two works, including Ohio River Valley and Valley in Winter.
The Irvington Artists exhibit, sponsored by the Irvington Union of Clubs, was noted in Lucille Morehouse's 1928 'year in review' column that was printed in the January 2, 1929 Indianapolis Star.
And with that, another decade in the career of Dorothy Morlan comes to a close.
Later that fateful year, 1929, a stock market crash would wreak havoc on the economies of the world. The 1930s would bring the Great Depression and worse. The perseverance of Dorothy Morlan and her fellow artists through those turbulent years will follow in Part Four.
Mark Diekhoff, August 2025
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