Eustis Estate
Venice
Hermann Dudley Murphy (1867–1945)
Venice, c. 1908
Oil on canvas
31 ½ x 38 5/8 in.
Gift of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Charitable Trust for Historic Preservation
2006.44.592
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.