Hermann Dudley Murphy papers
name: label: Creator
content: Murphy, Hermann Dudley, 1867-1945
label: Names
content: Vose Galleries of Boston
label: Names
content: Abbott, Mary Ogden, 1894-1981
label: Names
content: Barrie, Erwin S., 1886-1983
label: Names
content: Prendergast, Maurice Brazil, 1858-1924
label: Names
content: Ryder, Chauncey F., 1868-1949
label: Names
content: Sizer, Theodore, 1892-1967
label: Names
content: Tarbell, Edmund Charles, 1862-1938
label: Names
content: Trowbridge, Alexander Buell, 1868-1950
place: label: Place
content: Mexico -- description and travel
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters
label: Topic
content: Picture frames and framing -- Massachusetts
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in 1985 by Alexander B. and Dudley D. B. Samoiloff, grandsons of Hermann Dudley Murphy.
creator: label: Creator
content: Murphy, Hermann Dudley, 1867-1945
setName: label: See more items in
content: Hermann Dudley Murphy papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter and frame maker Hermann Dudley Murphy measure 2.8 linear feet and date from circa 1878-1982.  Found are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, personal business records, printed materials, a scrapbook, photographs, and original artworks, including sketchbooks.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Hermann Dudley Murphy (1867-1945) was a painter and frame maker active in Boston, Massachusetts.  

Hermann Dudley Murphy was born in Massachusetts in 1867.  He studied art under Edmund Tarbell at the Boston Museum School and later in Paris at the Académie Julian.  His early career focused on portraiture and landscape painting.  While in Paris, Murphy learned to make frames for artworks.  After exhibiting at the 1913 Armory Show, Murphy rejected Modernism and painted still-life.  He was known for his Tonalist style and his floral still-life paintings which included objects d'art such as Chinese ceramics, bronze statues, and textiles.  Additionally, Murphy taught art classes at the Harvard School of Architecture and the Worcester Art Museum School. 

Murphy married Caroline Bowles Murphy with whom he had two children, Carlene and Dudley Murphy.  After Caroline died, he married artist Nellie Littlehale.  With Nellie, he shared an interest in deck-seat canoeing.  Murphy died in 1945.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.8 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1878-1982
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.murpherm
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Prints
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged as 8 series.

Series 1:  Biographical Materials, 1887-circa 1940 (Box 1; 7 folders)

Series 2:  Correspondence, circa 1890-1962 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 3:  Writings and Notes, circa 1900-1942 (Box 1; 7 folders)

Series 4:  Personal Business and Financial Records, 1897-1944 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 5:  Printed Material, 1889-1982 (Box 1-2; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbook, circa 1910 (Box 2; 1 folder)

Series 7:  Photographs, circa 1878-circa 1950 (Box 2; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 8:  Artwork, 1892-circa 1940 (Box 2-4; 0.8 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The Hermann Dudley Murphy papers were arranged upon receipt and microfilmed onto reels 4038-4039.  In 2013, the papers were minimally processed and described by Jayna Josefson with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection is available on 35 mm microfilm reels 4038-4039 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Several letters from Caroline Bowles Murphy to Hermann Dudley Murphy are photocopies.  The original materials stayed with the donor, Alexander Samoiloff.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter and frame maker Hermann Dudley Murphy measure 2.8 linear feet and date from circa 1878-1982.  Found are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, personal business records, printed materials, a scrapbook, photographs, and original artworks, including sketchbooks.  

The bulk of the papers focus on the later part of Herman Dudley Murphy's career.  Specifically, correspondence focuses on the sale of still-life paintings and sketches and sketchbooks are mostly from Murphy's travels through Europe and Mexico from the 1920s to the 1930s.  Correspondents include Mary Ogden Abbott, Edwin S. Barrie, Maurice Prendergast, Chauncey Ryder, Theodore Sizer, Edmund Tarbell, Alexander Trowbridge, and Vose Gallery among others.  Personal business records comment on the sale of works of art from 1897 until 1944.  Printed materials include clippings and exhibition catalogs spanning Murphy's career. One scrapbook contains photos and printed materials. Photographs and snapshots are of Hermann Dudley Murphey and family, family travels, and works of art and frames.  Artwork consists of loose sketches, prints, and sketchbooks.