Casa Seton

“The Casa Seton Series represents Morse’s most autobiographical works. He references his years on the farm, growing up in a log cabin as well as the comic books, TV programs and movies that he grew up with during the post war era. Most of the still life objects were taken from antique displays, tools and toys from the Labrum farm along with WPA produced textiles, dolls and other artwork. These artifacts of Americana with their nostalgia, poignancy and kitsch were juxtaposed with the stunning architecture and tilework of Casa Seton.  The paintings are full of humor and warmth mingled with eroticism, biblical references and the threat of violence. They capture plot elements of most of the classic movies from the 40’s and 50’s. Bad things might happen, but there was usually a hero around to make sure there was a happy ending.” 
- Marc Morse

Rancho Santa Catalina was built in Tucson, Arizona in 1924 by a businessman from Philadelphia, Frederick Leighton Kramer. Grand and elegant, the home was in the Mission Revival style boasting two stories, 22 rooms, five baths, and a huge library with beautiful maple flooring that also served as a ballroom. The giant fireplace at one end of the library was made of boulders that came from Sabino Canyon. Dark green tiles adorned the roof and outside there was a port cochère connecting the library with the main residence and a swimming pool, reputedly the largest in Tucson. According to Tucson historian and writer John Warnock, this great house had multiple owners until it was sold to the Sisters of Charity in 1953 and they re-named the house Casa Elizabeth Seton. It was used as a school for aspiring nuns and as a kindergarten until it was sold in 1971 to the owner of the Arizona Inn, John (Jack) Greenway.  Jack arranged for the University of Arizona’s College of Art to use Casa Seton as studio space for graduate art students from the early 70s until the early 90s.

During that time, Morse served as the painting and drawing coordinator and supervised the College of Arts activities at Casa Seton. This experience led Morse to embark on an exploration of personal identity and society in his work that led to the production of his Casa Seton Series. 

Casa Seton’s vivid interiors and the clear desert light of the studio space created an environment for Morse to paint objects from his childhood. These still-life paintings are rich with the history of Casa Seton as well as Morse’s own history. Morse grew up on a farm where his family augmented their small farming income by selling second-hand goods like parts from broken-down trucks, cars, farm implements, as well as old wares and junk.  But he also used the setting to place sensuous nudes who go about their toilette with grace, seemingly indifferent to the objects within the room.

Steve Cheseborough, a reviewer of Morse’s exhibition in 1982 for the Arizona Daily Star commented:

“The theme of the whole series is the omnipresence of violence in everyday life, lurking behind the window or right in our toys.  It shows how we ignore this harsh reality by staying in houses and looking at knickknacks.  The paintings are still lifes, but they go far beyond the usual still-life concerns of form and composition and into the realm of the psychological.  The works are anti-portraits, looking away from the person who is their real, unseen subject.”

“Morse's improvisation with realities is enhanced by a playful use of collage elements, and his bright palette is at times disturbed by glimpses of World-War imagery. The optical animation of surface in his work, held in dynamic balance by the geometry of the interior motifs, creates a vigorous presence seldom encountered in the watercolor medium. Threading the entire installation is Bart Morse's variations on an ingenious but complex narrative.” - Wayne Enstice, University of Arizona Art Department, Casa Seton Exhibition Catalog, Joseph Gross Gallery, Tucson, 1982