Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART 2nd September 2020

46 41 SAMUEL JOHN MURPHY (1851-C.1920) The Fruit Seller Oil on canvas laid on panel, 35.5 x 30.5cm (14 x 12”) Signed and dated 1882 Exhibited: Cork, Cork Industrial Exhibition, 1883, Gallery of Modern Paintings, no. 24, £12 12. Provenance: Mucklow’s Gallery, 35 Cranbourn St., Covent Garden, London c. 1930s, label, verso. Samuel John Murphy was born in county Cork in 1851. He was a pupil of the Cork School of Art and a contemporary of Joseph Poole Addey (1852-1922) and Henry Jones Thaddeus (1859- 1929). Murphy became Head of the Waterford School of Art in 1875 and married Emily Jane Falls in 1878. Later, Murphy became involved in the lace-making industry. Accompanied by fellow Cork artist, James Brenan (1837-1907), then head of the Cork School of Art, Murphy travelled to Alençon, France, whose needle-lace was dubbed ‘the Queen of lace.’ [1] Here, to study the tech- niques of the Alençon workers, both men met with Ernest Lefébure (d.1913), a lace manufactur- er who would later become the Administrator of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. He contin- ued to paint and exhibit during this time, how- ever, and was a painter of scenes of equestrian, genre, and marine interest, as well as portraits. His latest known work is dated 1890. The 1911 Census confirms Murphy resided at 7, Newtown Rd., Waterford City. He remained an Art Master, but had become a widower. An equestrian scene by Murphy forms part of the collection of the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork City (CAG.489). 1] P. Wardle, Victorian Lace (London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1968) € 600 - 800 40 ROBERT SANDERSON (1848-1908) Lost, Bedad!-An Irishman playing cards at a table Oil on canvas laid on panel, 23 x 18cm (9 x 7”) Signed and dated 1901; further signed, and in- scribed with title and artist’s address on exhibi- tion label, verso. Exhibited: Paisley, Paisley Art Institute Exhibition, 1901. € 600 - 800