Murch, Walter Tandy, 1907-1967

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Walter Tandy Murch (1907-1967) of Toronto, Canada, was a painter and art teacher. His painting were primarily of still life subjects including machine parts, tools, broken dolls, and scientific equipment mingled with fruit, bread and fragments of rock as if seen through frosted glass.

Walter Tandy Murch was born on August 17, 1907, in Toronto, Canada, the son of Clara Louise Tandy and jeweller Walter Murch. Following his studies of architectural drafting and woodworking at the Technical High School in Toronto, he studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto with Arthur Lismer from 1924 to 1927. During the following year, Murch studied at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City with Arshile Gorky. From 1927 to 1929, he studied with Von Schlegel and K. H. Miller at the Art Students League. In 1930, Murch married Katharine Louise Scott.

From 1930 to 1933, Murch designed stained glass windows for Montague Castle, Inc., in New York City. Following a lengthy painting trip to Mexico in 1934, Murch returned to New York City and earned a living painting murals, designing department store windows, and creating illustrations for various magazines including Fortune and Scientific American.

Murch had his first solo exhibition at Betty Parsons' Wakefield Gallery in New York in 1941, and for many years Parsons was his principal dealer. Murch became a United States citizen in 1947.

Beginning in the 1950s, Murch taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, New York University, and at Boston University, and attended summer sessions at Yaddo and Skowhegan. In 1966, the Rhode Island School of Design organized Murch's first major retrospective.

Murch's work is in the collections of the Barnes Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Walter Tandy Murch died on December 11, 1967 in New York City.

From the guide to the Walter Tandy Murch papers, 1880-1970, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Brooklyn Museum. Dept. of Painting and Sculpture. Institutional file, Exhibitions. Walter Murch: a retrospective exhibition. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
creatorOf Walter Tandy Murch papers Archives of American Art
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Betty Parsons Gallery corporateBody
associatedWith Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988 person
associatedWith Bocour, Leonard, 1910- person
associatedWith Bonnard, Pierre, 1867-1947 person
associatedWith Brooklyn Museum corporateBody
associatedWith Brooklyn Museum. Dept. of Painting and Sculpture. corporateBody
associatedWith Dubuffet, Jean, 1901- person
associatedWith Gonzalez, Xavier, 1898-1993 person
associatedWith Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001 person
associatedWith Murch, Katherine person
associatedWith Murch, Walter. person
associatedWith Rhode Island School of Design corporateBody
associatedWith Scott, Katharine person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Artists' studios
Art teachers
Painters
Painting, American
Occupation
Activity

Person

Active 1880

Active 1970

Birth 1907-08-17

Death 1967-12-11

Americans

Information

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