Page 174 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021
P. 174
Max Morris (second from right) with Zhang Daqian, London, 1966
The Max Morris Collection
of Chinese Paintings
Lots 332 - 336
Max Morris was born in London’s East End to Russian In the 1980s he taught English at Toynbee Hall to primarily
immigrant parents. In his youth, he began working in immigrants and was an active patron of the arts and
his family’s shoe business, P.Morris & Sons based in charities. Two days before his 106th birthday he was
Shoreditch High Street. He served in the RAF during World awarded the British Citizen Award for his charitable work in
War Two, as a French interpreter for air support crews in a ceremony at the House of Lords on 7 July 2016.
France, reaching the rank of sergeant.
In August 1957, Morris was part of a small trade delegation
to China with the aim of fostering better understanding
and trade between China and the UK. During this time, he
visited some artists’ studios and acquired paintings, some
of which were later exhibited at the Herbert Art Gallery and
Museum, Coventry.
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