Martin J. Murray (American,1908–1997) "Wine & Fruit Still Life", 1961

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Martin J. Murray, Wine & Fruit Still Life, 1961

Painted in 1961, this signed oil on canvas by Rhode Island … Read more Martin J. Murray, Wine & Fruit Still Life, 1961

Painted in 1961, this signed oil on canvas by Rhode Island artist Martin J. Murray (1908–1997) presents a richly staged still life in which everyday table elements are elevated through careful orchestration of light, reflection, and surface. A white cloth, sharply creased and pitched toward the viewer, becomes the compositional armature for a spread of fruit and clustered grapes, while a group of bottles and a bulbous wicker-covered demijohn anchors the background. The inclusion of a mirror introduces a second pictorial space, doubling forms and shifting the viewer’s vantage—an academic device used to demonstrate control of perspective and value transitions, and here employed to heighten the sense of depth and to echo the gleam of glass and glazed ceramic. Murray’s handling balances descriptive realism with a mid-century sensibility: deep, shadowed passages frame the illuminated tabletop, and the warm curtain at left sets off the cool blue-greens of reflected light, producing a restrained chiaroscuro that reads as both studied and atmospheric. The subject matter—wine vessels, fruit, and domestic textiles—draws on longstanding still-life tradition, while the crisp edges of the table folds and the deliberate placement of objects suggest a painter attentive to structure and design as much as to color and mood.

Measurements: 33" h x 39" w. See less