Daniel MacMorris

Daniel MacMorris was a painter, designer and illustrator who spent the majority of his life working in Kansas City, Missouri. His paintings documented influential people of the twentieth century, while his murals decorated official buildings around the country. 

Daniel MacMorris was born on April 1, 1893, in Sedalia, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and he was raised in Kansas City by his mother and grandparents. At first, he wanted to be an engineer, but with the guidance of his art teacher at Westport High School, George Sass, he decided to pursue a career in art instead. 

MacMorris attended the Kansas City Art Institute, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Art Students League of New York between 1911-1923. During World War I, he spent time abroad with the Photography Corps. He made a living during his early career as an illustrator for the Kansas City Star. 

During the 1920s, Daniel MacMorris began frequently exhibiting his artwork. He won awards in local exhibitions and mounted a solo exhibition at the Kansas City Art Institute. He spent seven years working in Paris, where he studied with Auguste Gorguet. When he returned in 1930, his reputation had grown and he received a commission to paint a ceiling mural at the newly constructed William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and the Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts. He spent the rest of the 1930s in New York, where he had a studio at Carnegie Hall shared by Marcel Duchamp. After serving as a camouflage specialist in World War II, he returned to Kansas City and remained there the rest of his life.

In 1953, MacMorris obtained Auguste Gorguet's famous World War I painting titled Pantheon de la Guerre from a Baltimore warehouse where it had been left in decay. He restored, cut and rearranged the painting, then installed it at the National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, where it is still displayed today.

Daniel MacMorris continued to receive a steady stream of mural commissions from government, corporate and private sponsors. He supplemented his income by painting hundreds of portraits for notable members of society. His portraits included Marcel Duchamp, Dada artist; Margaret Truman, daughter of President Harry Truman; and William Rockhill Nelson, founder of the museum that bears his name. MacMorris worked intermittently as an interior designer, creating design schemes for local buildings including the Unity Temple and the KMBC-TV headquarters. 

Daniel MacMorris continued to paint at his residence on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza until he died on August 25, 1981.