Deborah Hanson Murphy was a painter whose meticulous work consists of a series of paintings she called “Variations”. These works are both understated and rigorous in their composition and approach to colour, elaborating over many years a series of forms, repeated serially throughout her still lives to the point where they no longer are able to remain still; the floor recedes from under the objects, suspended in space, the forms shed their names and take on other qualities.

Hanson Murphy (b. Stockton, USA, 1931; d. Paris, France, 2018) was largely overlooked as a painter during her lifetime. She graduated in 1953 from Stanford University and was a student at the Art Students League in New York from 1957 to 1958. She worked mostly in Paris, her adopted city, where she lived from 1968 until her death. 

Balice Hertling

Paris

Stockton

Deborah Hanson Murphy

Variation 251

Variation 30

Variation 89

Variation 69

Variation 85

Variation 544

Variation 49

Variation 1

Variation 203