Charles Fairfax Murray

British, 1849 - 1919

Explore Selected Works

See all 19 works of art
A man stands on a rocky, tan-colored outcropping and gestures to two men in a rowboat, all against a gold background in this square painting. The men’s pale skin is tinged with gray but they have rosy cheeks, and all three have beards. The outcropping rises steeply up along the left edge of the panel. The man who stands on it has long brown hair, a straight nose, and a small mouth. A halo is incised with geometric designs around his head against the gold background. He wears a crimson-red robe under a sea-blue mantle, both of which are edged with a line of gold. He holds up his blue robe with his left hand, farther from us, and holds out his other hand, palm up, to the other men. Those men stand in a wooden rowboat and hold a net heavy with fish over the side. Both of these men have ash-blond hair. The man to our left in the boat wears a sky-blue tunic and holds up one hand to his chest as he faces our left, his other hand holding a line of the net. The second man, to our right, has a longer beard and wears a brick-red robe. He holds the net with both hands, and looks up and to our left. The boat floats on a copper-green sea with several fish swimming in its undulating current. The fish are painted with dark green outlines. Closer inspection reveals two fish with gaping mouths facing us head on.
Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, 1308-1311, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.141

The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew

Duccio di Buoninsegna · 1308-1311 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.141

One woman sits and bends forward, bracing her elbows on her wide-spread knees as a second woman combs her long hair in this vertical black chalk drawing on pale blue paper. Both have straight, strong noses, wide-set eyes, full, rounded lips, and pointed chins in thin faces. The seated woman’s knees are turned to our left, but she turns her head to look over our left shoulder with her lips parted. Her right arm extends almost straight so her hand lies limp beyond her right knee, and she holds an oval hand mirror tucked against her voluminous skirts in her other hand. The bodice and sleeves of her dress have been taken off, and they hang loosely around her waist. Her chemise has short, loose sleeves, and one bare foot peeks out from under her long skirt. A low table next to her shins, to our left, holds toiletries and bottles, and a bed set up on a platform separates her from the back wall of the room. She sits on the edge of the bed near the footboard. The second woman stands on the floor behind the bed and platform, reaching over the footboard to hold up the first woman’s hair with both hands. The second woman’s dress has long, puffy sleeves and a low, square-cut neckline. Her hair is pulled back under a twisted head band. She leans to one side, coming toward us, to look down at the seated woman from over one shoulder. A tree branch whips around the edge of a swirling curtain in the background to the left. To the right are a round shield and short sword, a lit candle in a tall candlestick, and a crucifix. An in scription in chalk in the top left corner of the drawing reads, “Desdemona’s Death-Song.” Along the bottom edge, more writing reads, “46 6/8 x 29 6/8 hanging sleeve more to side clear of dress.”
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Desdemona's Death-Song, 1878/1880, black chalk over traces of red chalk on two joined sheets of blue-green paper, New Century Fund and Paul Mellon Fund, 2005.76.1

Desdemona's Death-Song

Dante Gabriel Rossetti · 1878/1880 · black chalk over traces of red chalk on two joined sheets of blue-green paper ·  Accession ID  2005.76.1

Giuliano Bugiardini, Portrait of a Young Woman, c. 1525, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.31

Portrait of a Young Woman

Giuliano Bugiardini · c. 1525 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.31

Barthélemy van Eyck, Seven Famous Figures from Ancient History, c. 1442, pen and brown ink with watercolor, heightened with white, on vellum, Woodner Collection, Gift of Andrea Woodner, 2006.11.68

Seven Famous Figures from Ancient History

Barthélemy van Eyck · c. 1442 · pen and brown ink with watercolor, heightened with white, on vellum ·  Accession ID  2006.11.68

Esaias van de Velde I, Villagers Skating on a Frozen Pond, 1625, black chalk with brown wash on laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1994.79.1

Villagers Skating on a Frozen Pond

Esaias van de Velde I · 1625 · black chalk with brown wash on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1994.79.1

Benvenuto di Giovanni, Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Bernardino of Siena, c. 1480/1485, tempera on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.3

Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Bernardino of Siena

Benvenuto di Giovanni · c. 1480/1485 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.3

The head, shoulders, and chest of a man wearing a deep rose-red garment fills this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled slightly to our left, and he looks directly at us from the corners of his eyes. His brown hair falls across his forehead, sweeps down over his ears, and curls gently at the nape of his neck. His eyebrows arch over brown eyes, and he has a long, angular nose. His upper lip is full, and his mouth is closed. He has high cheekbones and a cleft in his chin. The high collar is a black band over the voluminous red garment, which falls in pleats or folds down his chest. His right hand, on our left, lifts to clutch the fabric near his chest, in the lower left corner of the painting, and he wears a gold ring on his pinky finger. The background behind the man fades from dark aquamarine blue across the top to pale arctic blue at his shoulders, which span the width of the composition.
Andrea del Castagno, Portrait of a Man, c. 1450, tempera on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.17

Portrait of a Man

Andrea del Castagno · c. 1450 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.17

A young, pale-skinned boy wearing a brilliant blue toga sits on a rock and holds a gold pitcher in a landscape in this vertical painting. The boy’s body faces us, and he leans onto his right hand, to our left, so his body and head tip in that direction. He wears a leafy crown over long blond curls. He looks slightly up with wide-set, light brown eyes. He has round, rosy cheeks, and his pink lips are parted. He holds the gold pitcher up in his left hand, to our right. One foot rests on a rock and the other stretches long, to our right. A thin tree grows diagonally up and to our right from behind the outstretched foot, and another tree grows a short distance beyond. Behind the boy, green hills roll back to the horizon, which comes three-quarters of the way up the composition. Mountains, which are blue in the hazy distance, line the horizon under a sky streaked with ivory white above the peaks and topaz blue above.
Giovanni Bellini, The Infant Bacchus, probably 1505/1510, oil on panel transferred to panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.5

The Infant Bacchus

Giovanni Bellini · probably 1505/1510 · oil on panel transferred to panel ·  Accession ID  1961.9.5

Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, The Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1475/1485, terracotta, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.333

The Adoration of the Shepherds

Francesco di Simone Ferrucci · c. 1475/1485 · terracotta ·  Accession ID  1939.1.333

Rosalba Carriera, Sir John Reade, Baronet, 1739, pastel on blue laid paper mounted to canvas (on strainer), Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.66

Sir John Reade, Baronet

Rosalba Carriera · 1739 · pastel on blue laid paper mounted to canvas (on strainer) ·  Accession ID  1939.1.66

Bibliography

1993

  • Clegg, Jeanne, and Paul Tucker. Ruskin and Tuscany. Exh. cat. Accademia Italiana, London; Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield; Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca. Sheffield, 1993: 155-156.

2000

  • Elliott, David B. Charles Fairfax Murray, The Unknown Pre-Raphaelite. New Castle, Delaware, 2000