Anthony Murphy at the Orangery December 2011

ANTHONY MURPHY 2011

‘Truth beauty beauty truth, That’s all ye know on earth, And all ye need to know.’

Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats, 1819

Cover: Roman Road, Oil on Canvas, 21.5” x 15”

Anthony Murphy & Nicholas Bowlby request the pleasure of your company at a Private View at The Orangery Holland Park Tuesday 6th December 2011 from Noon Drinks 6.30 p.m.

Car Park Entrance off Abbotsbury Road W.8.

Telephone: 07 831 255 691 & 00 33 616 094 098

Exhibition continues: 6th December - 11th December www.murphygallery.com www.nicholasbowlby.co.uk

Foreword There is much about Anthony Murphy’s work for a modern art critic to despise. His paintings are full of life and colour and energy. They are not impenetrable allegories about 18th century slavery or the oppression of the Ngo people. They are unrelated to the unspeakable calamities of the Turner Prize, or the car-crash that is the Tate Modern. Simply, they are what they are: the work of a painter who passionately knows his art, who has carefully mastered the technical skills of drawing, of composition, of colour, and who understands how to create balance and poise in a single canvas.

More infuriating still for modernists, who so often depend on undisciplined self-expression for their work, is the range of skills that enable him to paint portraits, landscapes, still life and abstracts. These would be of astounding merit if he confined himself to one genre: but as this latest exhibition of his work once again reveals, he achieves mastery of them all. One is in no doubt here about the matching of intent and of outcome. There are no accidents in this process, merely artistic vision, creative purpose, technically accomplished execution and triumphant result.

Artists see things in their minds that the rest of us cannot perceive. Their horizons are not ours. Their imaginations envisage and their hands do things that are quite beyond our quotidian ken.

This is why society has always put them in a place apart, one that is marked by respect, attention and reverence. They are the paid-windows through which we are enabled to see a world that would otherwise be invisible. This is why the word gallery is so important to our civilisation. It originally meant church porch and is a corruption of the name Galilee. That is a measure of how art was generally regarded once upon a time, and still is by some: for it gives vital nourishment to the soul. Happily, Anthony Murphy remains utterly true to these ancient values, as this quite wonderful selection of paintings confirms.

by Kevin Myers, Irish Independent

The Two Hats Oil on Canvas 24” x 15” 6

The Sisters Oil on Canvas 24” x 18”

7

8

When you say the word ‘mine’ Oil on Canvas 28.7” x 21.2”

Orchid Oil on Canvas 7.8” x 15.7”

9

10

Brothers Oil on Canvas 24” x 15”

Wrestlers Oil on Canvas 21.6” x 14.9”

11

The Dancer Oil on Canvas 24” x 18.1”

The Way to St Jacques Oil on Canvas 25.5” x 21”

12

13

The Letter Oil on Canvas 15.7” x 15.7”

Lauragais Hills Oil on Canvas 21.6” x 14.9”

14

15

B P 1

16

Barcelona Pastel on Paper 19” x 15”

The Gallery Oil on Canvas 29” x 19.5” 17

18

The Shy Boy Oil on Canvas 21.6” x 14.9”

The Poplar Pastel on Board 18.9” x 14.1” 19

Girl in black gloves Oil on Canvas 24” x 14.9”

20

Molly on hard water Oil on Canvas 25.5” x 18” 21

Molly Abroad Oil on Canvas 25.6” x 18.1”

Connemara Fair Oil on Canvas 28.7” x 21.2”

22

23

L O 2

24

Les Deux Eglises Oil on Canvas 24.5” x 19.5”

La Toilette Oil on Canvas 18.9” x 14.1” 25

26

Yellow Hill Oil on Canvas 24” x 18”

Café de la Paix Pastel on Board 19” x 14” 27

The Fan Oil on Canvas 24” x 18.1” 28

Sunrise Oil on Canvas 19.5” x 11.8” 29

30

Going, going, gone Oil on Canvas 21.6” x 14.9”

La Dordogne Oil on Canvas 21.6” x 14.9”

31

No country for Old Men Oil on Canvas 16.1” x 13”

Belfast Girls Oil on Canvas 19.5” x 28.5” 32

33

Leda & the Swan Oil on Canvas 21.6” x 14.9”

34

La Dame au lit Oil on Canvas 24” x 14.9”

35

The Chess Player Oil on Canvas 13” x 18” 36

Anthony Murphy Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1956. Lives and works near Carcassonne, Aude, since 1992.

Anthony’s painting embodies and transfigures the tensions pain and glory of his time, of his Irish, English and Jewish heritage, of the rebel within the lawyer, the addict within the survivor, the rootless visionary brought through art and suffering to earth.

Richard Murphy, Poet The evolution of Anthony Murphy from child actor to lawyer to luminous painter smacks of intelligent design. How could it have happened by chance? His life proclaims purposeful progress. From birth in Argentina through English public school and Oxford, entry into the English bar, then Parisian man-about-town, he has emerged as a sublime painter, notably of the colour and landscapes of Ireland and of his home in southwestern France.

Brenda Maddox, Biographer 2008 The British and Irish have drawn and painted in France since the eighteenth century. But France is so varied that there is always something new to explore, something different to express. Murphy has both the intellectual astringency and the technical gift to do so.

Francis Russell, Old Masters, Director Christie’s This exhibition is about sex, announced the artist himself and there certainly is a trace of animal magnetism about the raw colours of his palette.

But conversely, it also is an exhibition about subtlety, about a covert glance, a dappled shadow. There s something almost feline about the many diverse lives lived by Murphy.

Susan Gorman, Irish Independant - September 2007

Solo Exhibitions 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1995 1993 1991

Charles Gilmore Fine Art, Belfast, Northern Ireland Ib Jorgensen Fine Art Dublin, Ireland The Orangery, Holland Park, London Ib Jorgensen Fine Art Dublin, Ireland The Orangery, Holland Park, London Ib Jorgensen Fine Art Dublin ,Ireland The Orangery, Holland Park, London Galerie Aalders, Golfe de Saint Tropez, France The Orangery, Holland Park, London Jernigan Wicker Fine Arts, San Francisco, USA The Orangery, Holland Park, London Jernigan Wicker Fine Arts, San Francisco, USA The Orangery, Holland Park, London Park Walk Gallery, Chelsea, London Park Walk Gallery, Chelsea, London Park Walk Gallery, Chelsea, London

Education 1970/1975 Westminster School, London 1973 Emmy award for best actor in a starring role, BBC Television Academy Awards, Los Angeles 1975-1978 New College, Oxford, BA degree in Philosophy, Psychology and Physiology 1982 High Holborn, London, BA degree in Law 1984 Lincoln s Inn, London, called to the English Bar 1985-1987 Temple, 2 King s Bench Walk & 6 Pump Court 1988-1990 Solicitors Clifford Chance, Paris, France.

Frames by QED : 01672 569 256

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Index p.5 - Foreword by Kevin Myers p.6 The Two Hats, oil on canvas - £ 3 800 p.7 The Sisters, oil on canvas - £ 4 300 p.8 When you say the word ‘mine’, oil on canvas - £ 4 800 p.9 Orchid, oil on canvas - £ 2 200 p.10 Brothers, oil on canvas - £ 3 700 p.11 Wrestlers, oil on canvas - £ 3 400 p.12 The Dancer, oil on canvas - £ 4 400 p.13 The Way to St Jacques, oil on canvas - £ 5 000 p.14 The Letter, oil on canvas - £ 3 200 p.15 Lauragais Hills, oil on canvas - £ 3 600 p.16 Barcelona, pastel on paper - £ 2 800 p.17 The Gallery, oil on canvas - £ 5 600 p.18 The Poplar, pastel on board - £ 3 000 p.19 The Shy Boy, oil on canvas - £ 3 600 p.20 Girl in black gloves, oil on canvas - £ 4 800 p.21 Molly on hard water, oil on canvas - £ 5 500 p.22 Molly Abroad, oil on canvas - £ 4 800 p.23 Connemara Fair, oil on canvas - £ 6 500 p.24 Les Deux Eglises, oil on canvas - £ 4 600 p.25 La Toilette, oil on canvas - £ 3 600

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p.26 Yellow Hill, oil on canvas - £ 5 200 p.27 Café de la Paix, pastel on board - £ 2 600 p.28 The Fan, oil on canvas - £ 4 200 p.29 Sunrise, oil on canvas - £ 3 200 p.30 Going, going, gone, oil on canvas - £ 3 600 p.31 La Dordogne, oil on canvas - £ 3 800 p.32 No Country for Old Men, oil on canvas - £ 3 000 p.33 Belfast Girls, oil on canvas - £ 4 800 p.34 Leda & the Swan, oil on canvas - £ 3 600 p.35 La Dame au lit, oil on canvas - £ 3 800 p.36 The Chess Player, oil on canvas - £ 2 900 Front Cover Roman Road, oil on canvas - £ 3 800 Back Cover Ballinasloe Fair, oil on canvas - £ 3 900 Not illustrated : Road to Fanjeaux, pastel on paper 14” x 10” - £ 2 500 Euphorbia, oil on canvas 28.7” x 21.2” - £ 5 000 Dublin Staircase, pastel on paper 16.1” x 10.6” - £ 2 600 Bend in the Road, pastel on paper 14” x 10” - £ 2 600 Willy Leahy’s Yard, pastel on board 19” x 25” - £ 3 600 Mother & Child, oil on canvas 9” x 5.5” - £ 1 800 Madonna of the Lakes, pastel on paper 15” x 11.5” - £ 1 800

“We are more than transformed groceries” John Moriarty - ‘Nostos’ Dublin 2001.

Overleaf: Ballinasloe Fair, Oil on Canvas, 24” x 15”

www.murphygallery.com Š Anthony Murphy