Artist Monograph

Morris Graves, American

American, 1910–2001

Wikidata · Getty ULAN

Medium Breakdown

Medium	Works at MoMA	Share
Watercolor	9	47.4%
Drawing	6	31.6%
Tempera	4	21.1%

Physical Scale

Scale bracket	Works	Share
Medium (30–100 cm)	18	94.7%
Large (1–3 m)	1	5.3%

Range: 55.2 cm → 136.2 cm (largest side)

Acquisition Timeline

Year acquired	Works
1942	14
1945	1
1948	1
1950	1
1978	1
2026	1

American Contemporaries

Catalogued Works

MoMA — 19 shown

Title	Date	Medium	Dimensions	Department	Credit line
Bird Singing in the Moonlight Drawing Acc. 14.1942	1938–39	Tempera and watercolor on mulberry paper	26 3/4 x 30 1/8" (68 X 76.5 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
English Nightfall Piece Drawing Acc. 16.1942	1938	Pencil and colored ink on paper	23 7/8 x 20 3/8" (60.7 x 51.7 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
French Nightfall Piece Drawing Acc. 17.1942	1938	Pencil and colored ink on paper	23 7/8 x 20 3/8" (60.9 x 51.7 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
German Nightfall Piece Drawing Acc. 18.1942	1938	Pencil and colored ink on paper	23 7/8 x 20 1/4" (60.8 x 51.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
In the Moonlight Drawing Acc. 20.1942	1938–39	Tempera and watercolor on mulberry paper	25 x 30 1/8" (63.5 x 76.5 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Papal Nightfall Drawing Acc. 457.2025	1938	Pencil on paper	sheet, approx.: 25 × 20" (63.5 × 50.8 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Gift of Miani Johnson in memory of Morris Graves
Roman Nightfall Piece Drawing Acc. 24.1942	1938	Pencil and colored ink on paper	23 7/8 x 20 1/8" (60.6 x 51.3 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Snake and Moon Drawing Acc. 25.1942	1938–39	Gouache and watercolor on mulberry paper	25 1/4 x 29 5/8" (64.3 x 75.3 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Blind Bird Drawing Acc. 15.1942	1940	Gouache and watercolor on mulberry paper	30 1/8 x 27" (76.5 x 68.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Fledgling Drawing Acc. 145.1942	1940	Gouache and watercolor on mulberry paper	10 3/8 x 21 3/4" (26.3 x 55.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Nestling Drawing Acc. 22.1942	1940	Gouache and watercolor on mulberry paper	26 3/4 x 29 7/8" (68 x 76.1 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Little-Known Bird of the Inner Eye Drawing Acc. 21.1942	1941	Tempera on transparentized paper	20 3/4 x 36 5/8" (52.8 x 93.1 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Owl of the Inner Eye Drawing Acc. 23.1942	1941	Tempera on transparentized paper	20 5/8 x 36 5/8" (52.6 x 93 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Unnamed Bird of the Inner Eye Drawing Acc. 26.1942	1941	Tempera and gouache on transparentized paper	composition: 19 3/8 × 30 1/2" (49.2 × 77.5 cm); sheet: 22 × 34" (55.9 × 86.4 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Woodpeckers Drawing Acc. 27.1942	1941	Gouache and watercolor on mulberry paper	31 x 26" (78.7 x 66 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase
Crow Drawing Acc. 277.1978	1942	Charcoal on paper	26 7/8 x 17 7/8" (68.4 x 45.5 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Gift of Marjorie and Robert Graff in honor of the Junior Council of The Museum of Modern Art
Bat Dancing for a Slug Drawing Acc. 83.1950	1943	Watercolor and gouache on mulberry paper	23 7/8 x 29 3/4" (60.9 x 75.8 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Given anonymously
Joyous Young Pine Drawing Acc. 138.1945	1944	Watercolor and gouache on paper on fabric	53 5/8 x 27" (136.2 x 68.6 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	Purchase (by exchange)
The Individual State of the World Drawing Acc. 3.1948	1947	Tempera on mulberry paper	30 1/4 x 24 7/8" (76.8 x 63.2 cm) ⌀c 0.00 cm · ⌀ 0.00 cm · L 0.00 cm · 0.00 kg · seat 0.00 cm	Drawings & Prints	A. Conger Goodyear Fund