Elizabeth Heaphy Murray

Elizabeth Murray (1815 – 8 December 1882), born Elizabeth Heaphy, was a British watercolourist. She primarily painted portraits and landscapes of the Canary Islands, where she lived for ten years. She was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and in 1857 was one of the founders of the Society of Female Artists in London, serving on its first committee.

Murray's father was Thomas Heaphy, also a watercolour painter. She first learned to paint from him, and they travelled and painted together. She continued to travel and live across the world, and paint scenes and portraits from these places: in particular, Rome, Morocco, the Canary Islands (particularly Tenerife), and New England. She married Henry John Murray, a British consul whom she met when living in Morocco, and moved with him as he was assigned to the Canary Islands.

In 1859, Murray published a two-volume monograph, Sixteen Years of an Artist's Life in Morocco, Spain, and the Canary Islands. This was received negatively in the Canary Islands because of its criticism of Canarian society, Spanish officials, and its comments about the decline of Tenerife. Possibly because of the resultant animosity towards the Murrays, her husband requested to be transferred to a new location, and in 1860 they moved to Portland, Maine in the United States where he took up a new consulate position.

Biography Elizabeth Heaphy was born in 1815 in London to Mary Stevenson and Thomas Heaphy. Thomas Heaphy was a prolific watercolour painter and a founding member of the Royal Society of British Artists. He primarily painted battle scenes and portraits of officers, such as the one he painted of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Heaphy grew up in an environment that allowed her to cultivate her artistic abilities. She played with her father's anatomical figures, and began to study and practice drawing with them.

Heaphy had four siblings: Thomas and Mary Ann, who were also both painters, Charles, an explorer and soldier, and another sister whose name is unknown.

During her stay in Rome, where she became known as the petite anglaise (little Englishwoman), she painted ancient sculptures and scenes of everyday life. As a result, Henry John Murray was appointed by the Queen as British consul general to the Canary Islands on 23 August 1850.

Stay in Tenerife (1850–1859) On their way to the Canary Islands, the Murrays passed through Andalusia, where they visited Cádiz and Seville. While in Andalusia she began to take interest in the paintings of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, for whom she began to feel "a great predilection". She also marvelled at the Seville Cathedral. On her journey to the Canary Islands, she studied the other passengers and painted some of them. When she was 120 miles from Tenerife, she was able to see Mount Teide, and her first impression was full of imagination because of its splendour and characteristics:

She arrived in Tenerife on 23 August 1850 on the warship Hibernia. She travelled around the entire island, noting her observations for her monograph and painting both landscapes and everyday life.

The first place that Murray visited was La Matanza de Acentejo, where she stayed in a house where she could see Teide, describing the town as providing perhaps the best view of the volcano than anywhere else on the island. She also stayed in places including La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz. She travelled to Gran Canaria with a group of Englishmen, describing Las Palmas as sad and uninteresting but its inhabitants as kind and pleasant.

In 1857, during one of her trips to London, Murray became one of the founders of The Society of Female Artists, serving on its committee. She was the most prolific contributor to its first exhibition, showing fifteen watercolour landscapes and portraits, which received many positive reviews in the press. In 1861, she was elected to the New Society of Painters in Water Colour (later renamed the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours).

Involvement with the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Miguel Arcángel On 31 October 1849, Queen Isabella II decreed the creation of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Miguel Arcángel (RACBA; the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Miguel Arcángel), headquartered in the capital city Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Seven months later, in May 1850, Murray was named Honorary Academic of RACBA and became fully involved in the Academy's activities. She participated in all exhibitions between 1850 and 1856, and became well-recognised for her work. In her first exhibitions she showed paintings of the places she had visited such as Greece, Morocco, and Seville; later she exhibited her paintings of the Canarian landscape and the people in Tenerife.

Friendship with the Diston family

The Murrays were close friends with the Diston family. Alfred Diston was born on 8 January 1793 in Lowestoft, England and arrived in the commercial centre of Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife in 1810. Here he married María Soledad de Orea, with whom he had a daughter, Soledad "Solita" Diston y Orea. He was named an Honorary Academic of RACBA on 24 October 1851, possibly sponsored by French naturalist and ethnologist Sabin Berthelot.

His relationship with the Murray family is reflected in Diston's diaries. Elizabeth Murray also painted a portrait of Diston and was in charge of his daughter Solita's artistic education. Solita's first exhibition was with RACBA in 1854, and she later went to England with Murray to continue her studies.

Description and criticism of Canarian society (1859)

In 1859, Murray published her monograph Sixteen Years of an Artist's Life in Morocco, Spain, and the Canary Islands. In it she described Canarian society at that time and explained some questions regarding her artwork and the representation of said society. Alfred Diston's contribution to support Murray, Notes furnished Mrs. Murray for her intended work on these islands, was very important. Its description was historically and culturally significant with regards to the festivities, customs, and folklore of the islands, as well as demographic data and descriptions of the cities. and in works like Portland and Vicinity by Edward H. Elwell.

Murray also resumed writing, although she stopped writing about her travels and instead wrote about more technical questions about painting with watercolours. Her work culminated in writing The Modern System of Painting in Watercolour from the Living Model. Historian José Luis García Pérez has considered two possible reasons for her change in writing style: the fear of making new enemies as a result of her writing, and the absence of the type of exoticism she found in Morocco and Spain; he favours the latter hypothesis.

English painters painted the geography of other regions and ancient cities, usually medieval. Many English painters who were on their way to other parts of Europe, such as Switzerland or Italy, settled in France. Although Murray didn't settle in France, she did travel through the country when travelling to and from Italy. However, Murray practiced painting landscapes primarily when she stayed in Morocco and the Canary Islands. During her time in Spain she felt especially attracted to Seville, as did Richard Ford, a traveller and Hispanist who wrote about his travels in Spain and possibly gave Murray the idea to write about her trips. However, Murray didn't use the traditional methods, but instead usually used the gouache technique in her works. Her works stand out for their colourful palette, in which she abundantly used chestnut, blue, violet, pink, black, scarlet, and gold, as well as olive and tar colours applied in bright and intense shades. Her portraits were highly accurate and delicate. In some of her works, Murray uses up to eight different people in the parallels she establishes; in this sense she differs from her father, as he used a greater number of subjects in his paintings. The colours and tonalities in her paintings are similar to those of her father's.

Works

José Luis García Pérez has pointed out that it is difficult to know the exact dates Murray's paintings were created, and that because of her travels it is likely she sketched the initial drawings and then took more time to finish them. She was 13 years old when Murray arrived in the Canary Islands. The quick friendship between the Murrays and Distons meant that Soledad's first artistic endeavours were under the tutelage of Elizabeth Murray. She even travelled with Murray to Tenerife to continue her studies.

Researcher José Luis García Pérez attests that he was a disciple of Murray through the artist's grandson, who owns Murray's painting La Odalisca. Fierro created a large number of costumbrista paintings, and watercolours of the typical clothing in La Palma. The latter are reminiscent of Diston's work, but with stronger colours and poorly-drawn faces. Fierro also practiced caricature and painting on photographs. Four of his most notable paintings are Puerto de Santa Cruz de La Palma, painted 2 May 1876; Rada de Santa Cruz de La Palma, from 1883; La Plaza de Santo Domingo en Santa Cruz de la Palma, from 1891; and the portrait D. Félix Poggio y Lugo.

Fierro died on 2 November 1930 in his hometown, at the age of 89.

American disciples Murray arrived in the United States at the time when watercolour and gouache were gaining interest from young artists. The geographical separation of the American continent and Europe affected the development of artists and their work; the arrival of foreign artists encouraged their development, and they began to see nature through the eyes of their teachers. Murray's exhibits in academies and artistic societies were among the things that encouraged these artists; additionally, they were surrounded by a group of painters who opened studios to teach. Murray also published The Modern System of Painting in Watercolour from the Living Model in 1865, into which she poured all of her experience.

Two of Murray's American students stand out in particular: Julia C. Furbish in 1864, and Mary Rolfe in 1869. Furbish was successful in the Boston area, and specialised in portraiture. She created a copy of Murray's The Gipsy Cigar Girl, which was quite successful. Rolfe learned to use Murray's painting technique and to use colours like olive; additionally, she was primarily focused on the faces of those she portrayed. Her work Egiptian Girl exhibited with great success at Hale's Art Gallery in 1869. The later trajectory of these two artists, however, is not known.