Painting of Venice

Details

Descriptive Terms

oil paintings (visual works)
canvas
oil paint (paint)
Painting

Label

Anna Phillips inherited a large collection of furnishings, jewelry, and art upon her Aunt Anna Peabody's death in 1911. Many of these pieces graced the rooms at the Phillips House in Salem, Massachusetts. The Phillips collection contains a number of works by Herman Dudley Murphy, a locally born artist, known not only for his work in Impressionism, but also his hand-carved frames that accentuate his paintings.
"Artful Stories": Hermann Dudley Murphy is known for quiet, almost poetic scenes that avoid strong contrasts of light and shade. After studying at the Boston Museum School and spending five years in France, he became an active member of Boston’s art community. In 1908 he revisited Venice, where he made this scene highlighting the impressionistic shimmer of water. Equally admirable is the hand-carved frame. Inspired by James McNeill Whistler’s belief that frames and paintings should harmonize, in 1903 Murphy cofounded the framing firm of Carrig-Rohane, named after the studio-house he created in Winchester, Massachusetts, that same year.

Inscription

"M" (in a circle at bottom right of painting)

Associated Building

Original to Phillips House (Salem, Mass.),

Additional Identification Number

P169
FA014

Maker

Murphy, Hermann Dudley, 1867-1945 (Artist)

Location of Origin

Venice, Italy

Dimensions

31 1/2 x 38 5/8 x 3 6/16 (HxWxD) (inches)

Credit Line

Gift of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Charitable Trust for Historic Preservation

Accession Number

2006.44.592