Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 523 – Ada Clifford Smith Murphy, otherwise known as Mrs. J. Francis Murphy

Part 523: Ada Clifford Smith Murphy, otherwise known as Mrs. J. Francis Murphy

J. Francis Murphy’s wife, Adah Clifford Smith Murphy (1859-1949), was a landscape artist, a portrait artist, and miniature painter. She deserves special mention about her contributions to the art world apart from the post that I did on her husband. Born in Saratoga, New York, during 1859, she was a student at the Female Art School of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Also referred to as the Cooper Union Art School, she was a pupil of Douglas Volk and an active artist before meeting her husband.

In November 1883 Adah Clifford Smith married the artist John Francis Murphy at the age of 24; John was six years her senior. The couple met at a skating party while she was a student at Cooper Union Art School. Her husband had moved to the East Coast in 1875, after working as a scenic artist in Chicago.

In 1886, the couple traveled to Europe, first staying in London and then France.  While staying in Montigny, she recorded that they sketched local scenes from June until October, when they departed for Amsterdam. During their travels, they enjoyed seeing many paintings that they had previously only known through photographs. Adah’s works were exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York beginning in 1886. She remained prominent in eastern art circles from that time until 1933.

The Murphy’s established a studio in the Hotel Chelsea, but after a visit to Arkville, New York, they decided tomove to the Catskill Mountains.  In Akville, the couple found accommodations at an establishment owned by Peter Hoffman. They convinced Hoffman to build a hotel. The Hoffman Hotel was constructed in 1886, and included 17 buildings, many of them shingle-style cottages that are occupied to this day. The Hoffman Hotel, later the Pakatakan Hotel, served as the gathering center of the Pakatakan Artist Colony, named after an old Lenape Native American village on the same location.

In 1887 the Murphys built a home and studio in this small town of Arkville, and named their studio “Weedwild.” They painted the surrounding landscape, occasionally venturing off to capture scenes of the western Catskills.  The Murphy’s presence in this area, prompted many of their artist to visit, including, Alexander H. Wyant, Parker Mann, E. Loyal Field, Frank Russell Green, H.D. Kruseman Van Elten, George Smillie, Walter Clark, Arthur Parton, Ernest C. Rost, and J. Woodhull Adams. Initially staying at the hotel, many visiting artists later purchased property and built their own studios, naming each studio as the Murphys. The Pakatakan Artists Colony contained the summer cottages and studios of 13 artists. It is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, located off New York State Route 28, just west of Dry Brook Road.

In 1887, the “Menorah: A Monthly Magazine for the Jewish Home” reported that Ada C. Murphy exhibited paintings at the Academy of Design. The article’s author noted that Murphy’s “little studies” were “strongly impressed with the influence of her husband, who is doubtless her master, in an artistic sense, but full of evidence of native talent and feeling” (Volume 2, page 268). Nothing like having your success ultimately attributed to a male – your artistic master.

In 1888, the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” reported that “Recent achievements of Women Painters, Drawings in Pastels at Wunderlich’s – Strong and Commendable Work” (13 May 1888, page 10). The article commented, “The woman artist is almost a new product of our civilization, but she exhibits a talent and sometimes a genius that entitle her to high consideration…oddly enough the women painters succeed best in themes that are bold and strong. In flowers, birds and fashion plates they never seem to lift the subject out of tediousness, but in things that demand force of execution and largeness of method they are often surprising. It is said that woman was originally the superior of the man in every sense. Perhaps she has entered on a struggle for prestige.”

In 1893, Ada C. Murphy was mentioned as a contributor to the fifth annual exhibition of water-colors by American artists at Messrs. Frederick Keppel & Co. (The Art Collector: A Journal Devoted to the Arts and the Crafts, Volumes 5-6, page 38). Forty-three artists exhibited eighty watercolors; six were women. In addition to her husband, this group included well-known scenic artists, such as H. G. Maratta, W. C. Fitler, Jules Guerin, and H. C. Rehn.

During 1896, “The St. Joseph Herald” featured Murphy in the article “A Clever American Artist” (17 Nov. 1896, page 4). The article reported, “A union of kindred tastes was made when Mrs. J. Francis Murphy and her husband were married. He is one of the best of American landscape painters and his wife has done work that is almost as good as his. She is a very clever flower painter, and in her landscapes there is much of the sentiment and tenderness that appears in the work of her husband. She is a bright and charming woman, and has many friends who have delighted in her success.” In 1894, Mrs. J. Francis Murphy received the same Hallgarten prize as her husband had previously received in the 1880s (The Buffalo Enquirer, 5 April, 1894, page 4). “Her art education was largely obtained as the Cooper Institute, and she is also a pupil of her husband. She has exhibited at the Academy [National Academy of Design] since 1886, and at the Walter Color Society since 1885.” The “St. Paul Daily Globe” added that Mrs. J. Francis Murphy “derived much advantage from her summer’s study of the art galleries of Europe. She spends her summers in the Catskill Mountains. While she and her husband live amiably in a cosey cottage, they have two separate studios. Mrs. Murphy is a hard worker, and paints equally well in water colors or oils.” Mrs. Murphy’s studio was located at 222 West 23^rd St. (The World, 27 Feb. 1898. Page 25). Her husband’s studio in New York was located at the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway (26 Jan. 1880, page 9).

The “Soldier Clipper” noted, “Another clever illustrator and brush-woman is Mrs. J. Francis Murphy, who holds her own in the world of art with her talented husband. Mrs. Murphy is as happy in oil as in crayon work and ranks high as an illustrator. Her fancy is for old ruins, soft moonlight and fantastic shadows. Nothing could be more suggestive of sentiment and poetry than one of her moonlight paintings, where shadows are deep and lights are strong” (Soldier, Kansas, 27 June 1895, page 7).

Her work was included in the annual exhibitions of the Art Institute of Chicago (1889, 1896); the Boston Art Club (1893-1897); the American Water Color Society (1898); the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo (1901); the annual exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1912), and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco (1915).   Murphy was a member of the National Association of Women Artists by 1914, and also a member of the National Arts Club.  Up through 1918 she exhibited in 25 annual exhibitions.

She outlived her husband, John Francis Murphy (Dec. 11, 1853 – Jan. 30, 1921), by almost three decades, passing away at the age of ninety years old in 1949.

To be continued…