Robert Murray

Murray, Robert

 Robert Murray, sculptor (b at Vancouver 2 Mar 1936). His abstract metal SCULPTURE, constructed of simple geometric forms using industrial materials and methods, shares important stylistic characteristics with the work of British sculptor Anthony Caro, but it was influenced chiefly by American sculptors David Smith and Barnett Newman. In 1960 Murray moved to New York and established a close relationship with Newman, whom he had met the previous year at the University of Saskatchewan's summer school at Emma Lake (seeEMMA LAKE ARTISTS' WORKSHOP). Beginning in the 1960s with a fountain sculpture for Saskatoon's city hall, Murray has produced public sculptures for sites throughout Canada and the US. His early work was noted for its clear, open relationships with characteristics of contemporary minimalism, but since the mid-1970s he has developed a more lyrical vocabulary of curved, folded and twisted forms. His sculptures are unified by a smooth painted finish, often in saturated colours. Murray currently teaches in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. A retrospective exhibition, "Robert Murray: The Factory Studio," was mounted in 1999 by the NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA.