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. Around 1820, when she was five years old, her mother died.
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.
Stay in Rome (1831) In 1831, Heaphy moved to Rome along with her father and her brother Thomas. She developed her painting skills here, influenced by the atmosphere of the city. Her work drew the attention of French painter Horace Vernet, who was surprised with her ability and became interested in her studies. However, Vernet returned to France on 1 January 1835 at the request of King Louis Philippe I, who wanted him to paint the Palace of Versailles.
During her stay in Rome, where she became known as the petite anglaise (little Englishwoman), she painted ancient sculptures and scenes of everyday life.
Return to England On her return trip to England, Heaphy and her father stopped in Cambrai, France. Finding the city beautiful, she sat down to paint and attracted the attention of a crowd. However when she finished her painting, she was accused of being a spy and taken to prison. She left prison after a few hours and was placed under surveillance at a hotel while her father's coach was searched. When the French authorities didn't find any papers related to political affairs, Heaphy and her father were released. They were invited to paint the fortresses within the city, but her father refused and they left the city.
Stay in Morocco (1842–1850)
During her time in Morocco, Elizabeth became fascinated by the Moroccan landscape, the souq, and the local women. This became the first volume of her work Sixteen Years of an Artist's Life in Morocco, Spain, and the Canary Islands, in which she described Morocco and her adventures. She had decorated her home "in a Moorish–English mix", and called it her "dollhouse". It had a large patio, and a fresco depicting flowers and birds. During the French bombing of Morocco, there was a period of time where she converted it into a merchandise warehouse.
In 1846, Heaphy married Henry John Murray, a British consul in Tangier. From that time on, she would move along with her husband as a part of his work with the consulate. After her marriage she began to sign her paintings as "Elizabeth Murray" instead of "E. Heaphy".
In 1849, Richard Bartlett, the British consul general in the Canary Islands, died. 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.
In her monograph she rarely mentions her husband, saying he is sometimes very busy and that this is why she spent large amounts of time in the countryside. He was very good at his job, both for Britain and the Canary Islands, for whom he offered all his help when they were enduring periods of economic difficulty. However, surviving newspapers that mention the Murrays' presence focus on Elizabeth and her works, not her husband.
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.Society of Female Artists. First Exhibition. London, 1857. The Literary Gazette: A Weekly journal of literature, science, and the fine arts no. 2107 (6 June 1857), 547 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.
Murray introduced the watercolour technique in the Canary Islands. Her works depicting the Canary Island landscapes stood out, although she mostly devoted herself to portraiture. Her passion for architecture led her to study and paint the architecture of the Canary Islands, such as the Augustinian convents in Los Realejos and Icod de los Vinos, and the towers of the Church of La Concepción and of Santo Domingo.
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.
However, society disapproved of Murray's work because of her criticism of Canarian society; for her references to Spanish officials, whom she described as negligent and dishonest; and for her comments about the decline of Tenerife.
Her monograph, which was written in English, was publicised in the Canarian press and immediately received negative reviews. Criticism was published in El Omnibus, a literary review and news publication from Las Palmas, but became more intense when El Eco del Comercio translated to Spanish and published some of her chapters referring to the Canary Islands. From this point on, her fame began to decline and she stopped being accepted in artistic circles.
The Murrays' decline in popularity as a result of the monograph's publication is possibly why Consul Murray requested to be transferred to a new location. On 3 March 1860, he was assigned to the American states of Maine and New Hampshire, and the Murrays moved to Portland, Maine.
Stay in Portland (1860–1876) Murray was very active during the sixteen years she lived in the United States. She is mentioned in Portland, Maine, periodicals like the Portland Daily Press and Northern Monthly by critics like John Neal, 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.
Later years On 8 May 1876, Henry Murray was assigned to Buenos Aires. However, historian José Luis García Pérez has pointed out that the only evidence of this assignment is the official registration of his destination by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. On 1 October 1879, Henry Murray retired from his diplomatic duties. Elizabeth Murray died on 8 December 1882 in San Remo, although there is also a source saying she died in February 1882.
Artwork Murray primarily worked in watercolour to paint portraits, miniatures, and landscapes featuring Mediterranean and Orientalist themes. Her early work was clearly influenced by her father, Thomas Heaphy; after his death she expanded her artistic style to include landscapes from her trips to Morocco, Andalusia, and the Canary Islands. Her paintings are Romantic, with Victorian brushstrokes.
Artistic context: Romantic and Victorian