Artist

George Murphy

born London, England 1947

Also known as: Christopher John Murphy
Born: London, England
Active in: Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States

Biography: George Murphy began to paint late in 1970, while attending the University of York, England, although he had never received formal artistic training. Seven years later, his car packed with belongings and an easel strapped to its roof, Murphy set out for Florence, Italy, where he remained for three years. Working from a studio overlooking the Piazza Santa Croce, he portrayed bushes, hedges, and trees, "seeking to isolate them as objects with a certain 'presence.' " In the spring of 1979 he made his first trip to the United States, and the following year moved to Nantucket, his home and inspiration for the past six years. Murphy is currently interested in neoclassical architecture as subject matter for his paintings and seeks consistently to simplify and order his imagery.
Virginia M. Mecklenburg Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press for the National Museum of American Art, 1987)
: Luce Artist Biography
George Murphy, who received no formal training as an artist, began painting in the 1970s while a philosophy student at the University of York in England. In 1977 he moved to Florence, Italy, where he lived and worked for the next three years. Murphy made his first trip to the United States in 1979 to visit New York City. He moved to Nantucket, Massachusetts, the following year and became active in the Artists Association of Nantucket, won several awards, and held numerous solo shows. Murphy draws inspiration from trees, bushes, hedges, and other elements of landscape, as well as neoclassical architecture.

Works by this artist (6 items)

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George Murphy, Hedge and Cypress, 1977, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1985.30.52

Hedge and Cypress

Artist

Date1977

oil on canvas

George Murphy, At Back of the Atheneum I, 1980, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1985.30.48, © 1980, George Murphy

At Back of the Atheneum I

Artist

Date1980

oil on canvas

George Murphy, Cliff Road Hitching Post, 1982, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.66, © 1982, George Murphy

Cliff Road Hitching Post

Artist

Date1982

oil on canvas

George Murphy, Back of Atheneum II, 1981, watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1985.30.51, © 1981, George Murphy

Back of Atheneum II

Artist

Date1981

watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper