Robert Lee Morris

Who is Robert Lee Morris?

Robert Lee Morris is a jewelry designer and sculptor who attributes much of his inspiration to forms he admires in nature. His designs have been made in gold, silver and bronze and he is known for his 24 carat matte gold plating and rich deep red copper and green patina. He has collaborated or designed collections for fashion designers Kansai Yamamoto, Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, Michael Kors and Donna Karan.

He was born in Nuremberg, Germany, where his parents were stationed after the end of World War II. His father was in the US Air Force. They were also stationed in Japan when he was nine for four years and later in Brazil. He graduated from Beloit College with honors in 1969.

Morris was discovered in 1971 by New York gallery owner Joan Sonnabend and first exhibited at her art jewelry outpost in the Plaza Hotel called Sculpture to Wear. Shortly after the closing of Sculpture to Wear in 1977, he opened the first edition of Artwear Gallery at 28 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side, near the couture district on Madison Avenue. Artwear relocated to SoHo in August 1978 where it would be surrounded by contemporary art galleries.

A few years later a second, larger location opened nearby, followed by another on Madison Avenue in what is now the Sony building. A location on Königsallee in Düsseldorf, Germany was short-lived. Morris closed Artwear in 1995 and the RLM Robert Lee Morris Gallery opened in September 1995 at 400 West Broadway, focusing exclusively on Morris's own work.