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LEONARD FRANKLIN MORRIS, an Impressionist, Portraitist, Muralist and multifaceted Composition Specialist, was born in Jamaica, West Indies. In 1947, at age 14 Morris sold his first painting entitled “Country Man” to the British Consulate.

Morris read art books and did pencil sketches at the Junior center Library of the Institute of Jamaica. The director of the center, Bob Verity, saw his work and promptly sent him to join the Vera Cummings art class where he studied painting alongside such artist as Barrington Watson, Corah Hamilton, Vernal Rueben, David Potting, Osmond Watson, Alexander Cooper and the late master painter and printmaker Lloyd van-Pitterson. Morris also studied sculpture under the late master sculptor Alvin Marriott, ceramics under master potter Cecil Baugh and printing under the master printer E. C. R. Williams.

In 1952 Morris won a scholarship to the Jamaica School of art and Crafts where he studied drawing, painting and graphic art. Morris spent seven years studying under the tutelage of the late painter Karl Parboosing, Ralph Campbell, and the late painter and master sculptor Edna Manley. He later served as Artist-In-Residence at the University of the West Indies and Knox College. Morris’ long-term goal was to win a scholarship to go to England where he hoped to master the various techniques to become an art teacher so he could devote his life to teaching drawing and painting. This did not happen. Morris accepted a job with the Jamaica Telephone Directory Service as their art director for two years. He then moved on to Jerry Dunlop Associates as their layout artist. He also worked with NACK Advertising Associates as their finish artist; with Eddie Williams associate as assistant Art Director, and Foster Advertising as their Finish Artist. Wishing to continue doing fine art, in 1968 Morris migrated to the United States in search of greater opportunities.

In 1968, he migrated to the U.S.A, in search of greater opportunities. At the Art Student League of New York, he assisted the late Professor Charles Alston with his students. Then he attended the Washington Art school in the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., for two years. he studied under the late master painter Hector Whistler. Morris returned to Jamaica to open his own studio at the Institute of Jamaica. He was nominated in 1952 as “Artist of the Year” at the Annual Art Exhibition in Jamaica. In 1955 his oil painting “Country Dance” gained him honorable mention in the Jamaica Art Competition. In 1965 he was awarded merits in the Jamaica Art Competition. A year later he was honored at the Canadian Art Exposition.

In 1971 works by Morris were selected to represent Jamaica in the Commonwealth Arts Exposition in London, England. In 1952, his artwork “Grief” received rave reviews from the late renowned British Play writer Noel Coward who told him that, “Grief is the best piece of artwork” he had seen outside of Europe. The piece was purchased by the Institute of Jamaica. In 1997, his painting “Out of Many One People” caught the eye of Mayor Rudolph Giulliani in 1997. The Mayor’s laudatory comments were, “this painting is an excellent image of the ethnic diversity which makes up New York City.”

Over the years Morris’ works have achieved international recognition and have won numerous awards. He is the only artist who has created a body of work in oil, watercolors and pen sketches chronicling the “Life and times of the late Jamaican National Hero, the Hon. Marcus Mosaic Gravey.” The 80 pieces in the collection document Gravey’s Birth, the house in which he was born, his arrest by the FBI on a train on 125th Street, up to his death. Morris recently produced another series entitled “Cricket” consisting of images of famous cricketers.

Morris has been exhibited his works in group and one-man exhibitions in galleries, churches, offices and homes in England, West Germany, Jamaica, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the United States. he is listed in the Directory of Caribbean Personalities in Britain and North America, and “Who’s Who In America in Black Arts.” He has been featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles and on TV and radio programs, his works can be found in many prominent private collections.