McTear's
Lot 129
* CHARLES MURRAY (SCOTTISH 1894 - 1954), CHRYSANTHEMUMS oil on board 64cm X 44cm Framed (original) Provenance: Exhibited: City of Bradford Art Gallery, Cartwright Memorial Hall, Jubilee Exhibition 1954, Exhibit No. 770 (label verso). James Bourlet & Sons label verso no H 2611. Artist's label verso, partially obscured by owners (loan) label: Mr E Grierson, Greystead, Tarset, Hexham, Northumberland. Note: Charles Murray's oil paintings rarely appear at auction and, as he often left his work unsigned, some invariably aren't attributed to him. In October (20th) 2018 Tennants (Leyburn) offered "Crinan, Scotland" a small (23.5 x 35cm) watercolour with Leicester Galleries (London) "Artists of Fame & Promise Exhibition" provenance, which sold for £1600 (hammer). Charles Murray was born in Aberdeen and studied at the Glasgow School of Art for three years. He served with the ‘White Army’ in Russia from 1918-20, joining a diverse group of counter-revolutionary forces who fought against the Bolsheviks. On his return to Glasgow, Murray won the highly coveted "Prix de Rome" for etching and studied at the British School in Rome from 1922-25. He travelled extensively in Europe but came back to Scotland in 1926 to teach engraving at the Glasgow School of Art, and later lived in Leeds and Middlesex. He produced paintings and etchings in a style influenced by Mannerism. Murray had his first major one-man show at The Leicester Galleries (London) in 1946 and another at Batley Art Gallery in 1950. There was a Memorial exhibition at Temple Newsam House (Leeds Museum & Art Galleries) in 1955 and an Edinburgh International Festival show at the Merchant Company Hall in 1977. Murray's paintings have always attracted academic acclaim and the Tate bought one of his paintings in 1940. Thirty of his paintings are held in UK Public collections including at Glasgow Museums & Art Galleries, the Arts Council Collection (Southbank Centre), Bradford Museum & Galleries, the Ferens Art Gallery, The Hepworth, Leeds Art Gallery and Museums, Kirklees Museum & Galleries, Sheffield Museums, Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums and Tate (London).
