Oil on canvas
1912
John Francis Murphy (American, 1853-1921)
Signed and dated lower left 'J. Francis Murphy'
Dimensions: 30 x 36 in. (76.2 x 91.4 cm.)
Dimensions, framed: 35 1/2 x 32 x 3 1/2 in. (90.2 x 81.3 x 8.9 cm.)
Good condition
Provenance: Ferargil Galleries, New York

The landscape, titled “Grey Weather” by American artist John Francis Murphy, features a rolling field with scattered trees. The loose brush strokes, common in Murphy’s later works, is indicative of the impressionist style that swept Europe during this time. The artist blurs the edges of the forms, heightening the emotional response to the scene over its descriptive qualities.

This oil on canvas was painted in 1912. It is signed “J. Francis Murphy” and dated in the lower left. It measures 30 x 36 inches and was previously in the collection of Ferargil Galleries, New York.

Surface dirt; soil evident in upper left corner; concentrated quarter sized area of craquelure in center. Under UV, no evidence of restoration of retouch. Appears in basic good condition.

John Francis Murphy (American, 1853-1921)

Born in Oswego, New York, John Francis Murphy is recognized today as one of the leading American Tonalist painters of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His expressive style, a blend of the descriptive naturalism of the Hudson School and the poetic harmonies of the Tonalists, caused critics to name him “the American Corot.” Over the course of his career, Murphy won numerous prizes, including the Second Hallgarten Prize at the National Academy, Gold Medal of Honor (1887; American Art Association), the Webb Prize (1887; Society of American Artists), the William T. Evans Prize (American Water Color Society), the Gold Medal (1899; Philadelphia Art Club), and the George Inness Medal (1910; National Academy of Design). Examples of John Francis Murphy’s painting can be found in numerous private collections as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery.