Background

John F. Murphy was born on December 11, 1853, in Oswego, New York.

Education

He attended the public schools of Oswego but took slight interest in any line of study save that of painting. In his art he was wholly self-taught.

Career

At the age of seventeen Murphy went to Chicago and found employment as a painter of advertising signboards, but he soon lost this job because of laziness.

Returning to the East, he spent several years in New Jersey, not far from Orange, where he sketched and during the summer months taught a group of girl students.

In 1875 he opened a studio in New York, and a year later he exhibited his first picture at the National Academy. His early years in New York were a period of severe struggle for a living. He was elected a member of the Salmagundi Club in 1878 and thereafter for nearly a half-century was closely identified with that organization. He struck his gait in the early eighties and began to experience the satisfactions of relative prosperity.

He became an academician in 1887. At the same time he built a summer home and studio at Arkville, New York, a hamlet at the western edge of the Catskill region. There, from that time to the end of his life, he spent many happy summers and autumns in leisurely contemplation; he never painted out-of-doors, and his pictures were never literal portraits of places, but he made pencil notes and was constantly observing.

In time numerous honors as well as higher prices for his pictures told the story of his popularity. The list of prizes lengthened; the museums were eager to acquire his works; and at the time of his death on January 30, 1921, he was at the acme of his renown. He was given a funeral at the Fine Arts building, and he was buried at Margaretville, New York.

Achievements

• John Francis Murphy was a prolific painter of Tonalist landscapes, who was renowned especially for small, intimate views of nature.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Wall Art Print Entitled John Francis Murphy(American, 1853-1921) Autumn LAN by Celestial Images | 48 x 35

    (e with a 365 day workmanship guarantee. Inks used are lat...)

Membership

In 1878, John F. Murphy was elected a member of the Salmagundi Club. From 1888, Murphy was a member of the National Academy of Design. He became a member of the Society of American Artists (1901) and of the American Watercolor Society.

Connections

John F. Murphy was married to Adah H. Clifford.

Father:

Martin F. Murphy

Mother:

Hannah Murphy (Gregory)

Sister:

Agnes Eunson (Murphy)

Wife:

Ada H. Murphy (Clifford)