Education
Although he studied under Juan Bautista Gómez in his youth, he is generally considered to be self-taught.
Although he studied under Juan Bautista Gómez in his youth, he is generally considered to be self-taught.
Along with Jaime Colson and Darío Suro, he is considered one of the founders of the modernist school of Dominican painting. A native of Santiago de los Caballeros, he spent most of his career in Santiago Province. Morel is the leading Dominican costumbrista painter and is known for his landscapes, genre paintings, and portraits.
Morel held his first solo exhibition in Santo Domingo in 1932.
He was declared the "Pintor Nacional" (national painter) by the Dominican Congress on October 25, 2006. Morel founded a fine-arts school in Santiago de los Caballeros, which was attended by Clara Ledesma.
Two retrospectives were held to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth: Por los Caminos de Nuestra Expresión at the Museo Bellapart in Santo Domingo in 2006 and Autonomía y Trascendencia at Centro León in Santiago de los Caballeros in 2007.