Harriet Anderson Stubbs Murphy

Harriet Anderson Stubbs Murphy (1853 – September 23, 1935) was a British-American portrait artist.

Early life Harriet Anderson Stubbs was born in Liverpool, England, in 1853. After leaving England, she spent some time in Montreal, Canada, before coming to New York City. One of her portraits of McKinley hung in The Union League Club, and the other in the White House.

She also painted portraits of Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Admiral George Dewey and Governor William Dillingham (part of the Vermont State Archives), Senator Mark Hanna, Joseph H. Choate, John Hay, John Stewart Kennedy, J. Pierpont Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Laura Spelman Rockefeller, Bessie Rockefeller, E. H. Harriman, Cornelius N. Bliss, General Daniel Butterfield, Adrian Georg Iselin, Thomas Edison, Chauncey Depew, and New York mayors Abram Hewitt, Seth Low, and William Lafayette Strong.

One of the few woman working in portraiture at the time, Harriet could command better rates through her husband's name (up to $4,000 for a commission), therefore, "her portraits were signed W.D. Murphy". Reportedly, after discovering that his wife was a better artist than him, William abandoned his own work and became her business agent.

Personal life In 1886, she married fellow artist William Daniel Murphy. Together, they were the parents of:

Jean Una Murphy, who became a commercial artist Albert J. Murphy, who was an educator and author.

After the death of her husband in 1928, she moved to the Hotel Irvin for Women at 308 West 30th Street in New York City.