An Australian Artist of Roman Style

Artist Kevin Murray has  lived, loved and painted  the Roman  scene  for many decades. Although  an Irish artist of Australian-British education   he is   fully  inserted into the solar culture of classical Rome, Byzantine Ravenna and the Tuscan Renaissance. 

 The  old Italian  stereotype  applied to  many  English of the Grand Tour “Inglese italianato, diavolo incarnato “ does not apply to him,  although  the years  in Rome  have given  him  a  love for the Mediterranean lifestyle including  good food, wine of the Castelli and  la dolce vita .

All of  these aspects are visible  in  the still live paintings  on view at  the artist’s annual  open house at  Studio Minerva on June 22^nd .

 Murray’s many friends and  followers  will be able to  find  evocations of   the glory days of the Roman  trattoria of the 1960s and  70s as well as  terrace views and  monuments of his beloved   Trastevere and the  Roman campagna. 

In the  1960s-80s Kevin Murray   divided his time  between teaching  and painting.  Inspiration for  many  of the still lifes  in the exhibit came from  weekend jaunts  to the Castelli Romani or the  villages  in Etruscan  Tuscia on  his trusty Vespa.

The rustic  white jugs  holding flowers   were purchased from rigattieri  in  Umbria and Tuscany  before these areas became fashionable.

Murray’s   paintings reflect the laid back   lifestyle  in central Italy during those years .  He shares  his  trattoria   lunches  with  us : the table set with a carafe of house wine,  a  steak  or fish and salad . 

Objects collected  during  the  artist’s   Roman years encapsulate  precious   memories : an antique wooden candlestick, a Deruta plate,  a  handwoven  arazzo tapestry.

exhibit  of  still life paintings by Kevin Murray

 June 22, 2018   

 Studio  Minerva, Via Pietro Micca , 6,  Rome

See also "The Roman Jewels of Kevin Murray"  on this blog