b. 1911 d. 1988
Site Affiliation: Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio
Suzy Frelinghuysen was born in 1911 in New Jersey and descended from a long line of clergymen and politicians. She was educated at Miss Fine’s in Princeton and privately tutored in art and music and made childhood trips to Europe. In 1935, she married Morris who encouraged her painting and in 1938 became the first woman artist to have a painting placed in the permanent collection of the Museum of Living Art. Her principle interest remained music and after WWII she auditioned for the New York City Opera and became an instant success, singing the lead roles as a dramatic soprano in Tosca and Ariadne auf Naxos under the name Suzy Morris. She toured opera houses and recital halls in Europe and the United States. Her career was cut short with her retirement in 1951 after a bout of bronchitis. She began painting full time again, achieving some of her finest works.
She died in 1988 in Lenox, Massachusetts and left instructions in her will that the house and art collection be used to further the understanding of abstract art in America.
Primary Medium: Oil Painting, Fresco
Primary Stylistic Term: Bauhaus, Abstract, Non-Objective Modernist
HAHS Affiliations: Frelinghuysen was married to painter George L. K. Morris.
Recommended Publications: Suzy Frelinghuysen and George L.K. Morris: American Abstract Artists, Aspects of Their Work and Collection by Debra Bricker Balken and Deborah Menaker Rothschild (1993); Featured on Google Arts & Culture