Samuel John Murphy (1851-c.1920)The Fruit SellerOil on canvas laid on panel, 35.5 x 30.5cm (14 x 12)Signed and dated 'S. J Murphy. 1882', lower-leftExhibited: Cork, Cork Industrial Exhibition, 1883, Gallery of Modern Paintings, no. 24, £12 12.Provenance: Mucklow's Gallery, 35, Cranbourn St., Covent Garden, circa 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 techniques of the Alençon workers, both men met with Ernest Lefébure (d.1913), a lace manufacturer who would later become the Administrator of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. He continued to paint and exhibit during this time, however, 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)