Peter Murphy (born 1959) is a British artist working in traditional

egg tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

and

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

techniques, and a member of the Stuckist art movement.Morris, Catharine
"Vivid new shrine paints the story of St Ethelbert"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 6 August 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2008.

Life and work

Peter Murphy was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, England, and studied at Jacob Kramer College of Art and the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

. He trained with

iconographer Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...

Guillem Ramos-Poquí. Murphy uses traditional techniques from medieval altar painting, including egg tempera paint and gilding with gold leaf. He is a member of the Society of Tempera Painters and runs courses teaching these traditional techniques. He has led workshops in Byzantine painting techniques on the Greek island of

Skyros Skyros ( el, Σκύρος, ), in some historical contexts Latinized Scyros ( grc, Σκῦρος, ), is an island in Greece, the southernmost of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC and slightly later, the ...

. He has been commissioned by a number of churches in the UK, notably

Tewkesbury Abbey The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury–commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey–is located in the English county of Gloucestershire. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Considered one of the finest examples of Nor ...

and the church of St Mary Redcliffe in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He has also been employed by a number of museums. In 1998 he recreated a

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

Simone Martini Simone Martini ( – 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a pupil ...

for the

Barber Institute of Fine Arts The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham. The Grade I listed Art Deco building was designed by Robert At ...

. He was one of a team on a

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

TV show which recreated a

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...

painting in a week. As well as traditional iconic subject matter of saints and madonnas, he has used the same techniques to depict rock heroes, including

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

. He formed a

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

group of the

Stuckists Stuckism () is an international art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) o ...

art movement in 2005 and has exhibited with the group on several occasions since, including ''I Won't Have Sex with You as long as We're Married'', 2007, at the

A Gallery The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott. Founding The A Gallery was founded by Fraser Kee Scott in 1997.Groves, Nancy"The science of art" Newsquest, 13 April 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2008. ...

, London."I Won't Have Sex with You as long as We're Married"
stuckism.com. Retrieved 4 April 2008. In 2007, Murphy painted twelve "vibrant images" for a new shrine to St. Ethelbert, king and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

, in

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

, where the saint is buried. The images, painted in his usual

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

technique, tell the story of the saint and are incorporated on a seven-sided wooden structure around a pillar to the east of the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

. Robert Kilgour, cathedral architect, designed the structure, which was made by Stephen Florence. In 2013 Murphy founded the St Peter's Centre for Sacred Art in the Medieval Church of St Peter's in Canterbury England to teach traditional Byzantine and Early Italian painting techniques.

Notes and references

External links

Peter Murphy's web site

Video of Peter Murphy on BBC site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Peter 1959 births Living people Artists from Leeds English people of Irish descent 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters Alumni of Leeds Arts University Modern painters Stuckism English contemporary artists 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists

Life and work

See also

Notes and references

External links