Robert Murray
No artworks to display. See other artistsExhibitions
Bio
Robert Murray grew up in western Canada, and moved to New York City in 1960. Quickly establishing himself as an important young artist, he took part in the renaissance of modern sculpture and public art that unfolded in the following decades. Murray was particularly innovative in his use of industrial fabrication methods to create his pieces and in his deep investigation of landscape as inspiration for abstract sculpture. His synthesis of the rich tradition of landscape painting in Canada and the exciting vision of New York abstract expressionist and color-field painters has resulted in an extraordinary and unique body of work.
Murray had his first solo shows at the Betty Parsons Gallery, and was regularly included in the annual exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art. His sculptures were included in public exhibitions of large-scale sculpture in the 1960s and ’70s in New York, Detroit, Newport, and many other cities, as well as major museum shows about the sculpture of that era at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Walker Art Center. Retrospectives of his work have been held at the Dayton Art Institute, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Centro Culturale Canadese in Rome, and Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey. The National Gallery of Canada hosted a major retrospective in 1999, documenting Murray’s contributions to modern art in Canada and the United States. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2000 and received the Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Grant Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018. A comprehensive monograph on his work, Robert Murray: Sculpture, was published in January 2019.
CV/BIO
Solo Exhibitions
2018
FXCollaborative Gallery, New York. Robert Murray: Working Models and Works on Paper. February 15–March 23.
Studio 21, Halifax, NS. Robert Murray: Models, Painting and Sculpture. July 7–August 31.
2017
Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK. The Working Models: Sculpture by Robert Murray, March 24–April 15.
2016
Winchester Galleries Ltd., Victoria, BC. Robert Murray: Small Sculptures and Topographical Reliefs, November 3–26.
2015
Barbara Edwards Contemporary, Toronto. Robert Murray, March 20–April 18.
Barbara Edwards Contemporary Calgary, Calgary, AB. Robert Murray, September 18–October 30.
2011
Barbara Edwards Contemporary, Toronto. Robert Murray, September 23–November 5.
2010
Sideshow, Brooklyn, NY. Landforms & Field Patterns: Robert Murray, April 1–31.
2009
Barbara Edwards Contemporary, Toronto. Robert Murray, September 25–November 14.
2006
Carleton University, Ottawa, ON. Tundra (for Barnett Newman), unveiling of the sculpture in its new location at the University, October 4.
2004
Winchester Galleries Ltd., Victoria, BC. Robert Murray, March 6–March 30.
Freedman Gallery, Albright College Center for the Arts, Reading, PA. Robert Murray: Wood + Metal, March 30–April 23.
Andre Zarre Gallery, New York. Robert Murray: Recent Sculpture, November 17–December 20.
2003
Moore Gallery Ltd., Toronto. Robert Murray: La Serie des Barils, Seven New Works of Sculpture, May 22–June 14.
2002
MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, ON. Robert Murray: Working Models, April 12–May 26.
2001
Moore Gallery Ltd., Toronto. Robert Murray: Line and Mass—Wood and Metal, May 26–June 16.
2000
Stroud Water Research Center, Avondale, PA. Robert Murray: The Float Plane Watercolors, June 1–August 31.
1999
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON. Robert Murray: The Factory as Studio, February 19–May 2.
Moore Gallery Ltd., Toronto. Robert Murray: Four Important Sculptures from His Recent Retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada, June 5–June 26.
Ericson Gallery, Philadelphia. Robert Murray: Wall Pieces and Small Sculpture, November 12–December 31.
1998
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ. Special showing of Hillary.
1997
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ. Robert Murray, May 10–July 6.
1996
Andre Zarre Gallery, New York. Robert Murray: Selected Small Sculptures from the 80s and 90s, March 7–April 6.
1994
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto. Robert Murray: Installation of Shaped Canvases and Prints, February 12–26.
Reading Public Museum, Reading, PA. Robert Murray: Retrospective, September 11–November 20.
Andre Zarre Gallery, New York. Robert Murray: Recent Paintings and Sculptures, November 8–December 3.
1993
New Arts Program Exhibition Space, Kutztown, PA. Robert Murray, October 8–November 6.
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA. Special showing of Hillary.
Reading Museum, Reading, PA. Special showing of Saginaw.
1992
Muhlenberg College, Frank Martin Gallery, Allentown, PA. Inventing Forms: Robert Murray, January 23–March 5.
1990
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE. Robert Murray: Sculpture and Working Models, October 6–November 25.
New England Center for Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, CT. Robert Murray.
1987
Richard Green Gallery, Los Angeles. Robert Murray: Sculpture, January 23–March 7.
1986
Gallery Two Nine One, Atlanta, GA. Robert Murray: Sculpture, March 1–April 16.
Richard Green Gallery, New York. Robert Murray: Recent Works, October 11–November 8.
1985
Centro Culturale Canadese, Rome, Italy. Robert Murray: Working Models, April 3–26.
Gallery One, Toronto. Robert Murray: Recent Sculpture, May 4–23.
1984–85
Esplanade, New York. Special showing of Saginaw.
1983
Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH. Robert Murray: Working Models, January 31–February 25.
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC. Robert Murray: Sculpture and Working Models, June 24–August 7.
Sam Houston Gallery, Vancouver, BC. Working Models.
1982
Hamilton Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York. Blues: Works in Aluminum and Bronze, April 30–May 29.
Klonaridis, Inc., Toronto. Robert Murray: Watercolours, November 27–December 23.
1981
Klonaridis, Inc., Toronto. Robert Murray: New Sculpture, May 23–June 20.
1980
Hamilton Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York. Robert Murray: New Sculpture, March 7–April 5.
1979
Hamilton Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York. Robert Murray: Red Show, March 10–31.
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH. Robert Murray: A Sculpture Exhibition, May 11–July 8. Traveled to Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH, July 29–September 2.
Klonaridis, Inc., Toronto. Robert Murray: New Sculpture, October 20–November 9.
1978
Sewall Art Gallery, Rice University, Houston, TX. Robert Murray: Sculpture, February 14–April 8.
1977
Hamilton Gallery of Contemporary Art, New York. Robert Murray, September 17–October 8.
Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL. Robert Murray.
Janie C. Lee Gallery, Houston, TX. May 14–June 15.
1975
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto. Robert Murray: Small Works, February 15–March 12.
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto. Recent Sculpture by Robert Murray, September 13–October 8. Traveled to Gallery Stratford, Stratford, ON, November 14–December 7; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, SK, December 18–January 15, 1976.
1974
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto. Recent Sculpture by Robert Murray, March 9–April 3.
Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Robert Murray, November 9–December 4.
1972
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto. Recent Sculpture by Robert Murray, October 28–November 25.
1971
Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, New York. Robert Murray at Hammarskjöld Plaza, December 1971–February 1972.
1969
Cultural Affairs Department, Battery Park, New York. Special showing of Cumbria.
1968
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto. Robert Murray: Sculpture, May 18–June 16.
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York. Robert Murray: Sculpture, October 8–26.
1967
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto. Robert Murray, May 4–28.
Jewish Museum, New York. Robert Murray: Sculpture, July–October.
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Special showing of Cumbria.
1966
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York. Robert Murray, December 13–31.
1965
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York. Robert Murray: Painted Sculpture, March 30–April 17.
Collections
Alaska State Museum, Juneau
Art Gallery of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria
Art Gallery of Kelowna, Kelowna
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
California State University Long Beach, Long Beach
Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), Toronto
Carleton University, Ottawa
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus
Copeland Run Academy, Downingtown
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington
Department of External Affairs, Ottawa
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse
Fredonia State College, Fredonia
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township
Hinsdale Junior High School, Hinsdale
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
JW Power Collection, University of Sydney, managed by Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Lynden Sculpture Garden, Milwaukee
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York
Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Montreal
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Neuberger Museum, Purchase
New Brunswick Museum, St. John
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton
One King West, Toronto
Reading Public Museum, Reading
Saskatoon City Hall, Saskatoon
Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln
Storm King Art Center, Mountainville
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore
UC Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley
University of Alberta, Edmonton
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of Toronto, Toronto
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
Vassar Art Gallery, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Wayne State University, Detroit
Wells Fargo Bank, Minneapolis
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Awards
Tuition scholarship, Saskatchewan Arts Board, Regina, SK, for the University of Saskatchewan Summer School, 1955
Recognition Award, Saskatchewan Arts Board Spring Exhibition, 1958
Scholarship, Institute Allende, San Miguel, Mexico, 1958
Canada Council Arts Scholarship, 1960
Canada Council Senior Grant, 1969
National Endowment for the Arts (unsolicited), 1969
Second Prize, Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil, 1969
Allied Arts Medal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, 1977
Aviation & Space Writers Award, 1979
Order of Canada, 2000
Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Grant Award for Lifetime Achievement, 2018
News
