Courtney Murphy
About Courtney Murphy
Courtney Murphy is a figurative painter who reframes the depiction of women through a contemporary feminist lens. Trained in classical techniques yet unbound by their conventions, she blends formal precision with a sense of mystery and movement.
Her oil paintings, often depicting women draped in flowing fabrics and bathed in warm light, pulse with kinetic energy. “My pieces all have their own story, but they have no one ending,” she explains—a philosophy that invites the viewer to bring their own interpretations to each scene. Through dynamic cropping and subtle cues, Murphy’s women resist objectification, asserting agency even in their most vulnerable poses.
Murphy earned her MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art, where she honed her craft studying anatomy, oil painting, and the techniques of classical masters. Earlier, she completed her BA in Studio Art at the University of California, Davis, where she explored sculpture, costume design, and drawing. Her formative years included intensive study with realist painter Jeremy Lipking at the California Art Institute, whose influence is evident in Murphy’s devotion to timeless figuration. Yet it was her exposure to varied mentors—such as Dave Hollowell at UC Davis—and diverse contexts, including plein air work on the cliffs of Brittany, France, that broadened her approach. “New York pushed my boundaries… but Brittany liberated me,” she recalls, describing a shift away from rigid concepts toward intuitive, liberated painting.
While her formal skills reflect deep academic training, Murphy’s true innovation lies in her reinterpretation of historical styles. Her compositions evoke the soft luminosity of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and the rippling drapery of Rococo painter Jean-Marc Nattier. But unlike their passive female subjects, Murphy’s figures possess agency. “It is this recognition, either positive or negative, of femininity and strength that I search for [in my art],” she notes. Her subjects stretch, recline, or gaze out of frame, animated by inner life rather than posed for male pleasure. Fabrics shimmer like “flowing water… moving in waves over the figure,” adding a sensuous rhythm that draws viewers in without defining them.
Murphy’s career has been marked by both critical recognition and a commitment to teaching. Her work has been exhibited widely, with solo shows including Interludes (New Century Artists Gallery, 2014) and A Night In (Skidmore Contemporary Art, 2017). Group exhibitions include Take Home a Nude at Sotheby’s New York (2012–2014) and Facts and Figures at Long Beach City College. She has held residencies at Art Square in Virginia, the Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art in France, and Eden Rock in St. Barths—each offering fresh perspectives that have shaped her evolving practice. Alongside her studio work, she serves as professor of art at Long Beach City College, Moorpark College, and California State University Long Beach.
Today, Murphy continues to expand the visual language of contemporary figuration. Her paintings are simultaneously intimate and grand, personal and universal. With every canvas, she experiments with composition, color, and scale—pushing at the edges of tradition while preserving the quiet drama that defines her work. As a painter deeply engaged with both past and present, Murphy offers images that are as visually seductive as they are thematically rich: portraits not just of women, but of feminine power in motion.
Artist Interview with Skidmore Contemporary Art
Skidmore Contemporary Art: How would you describe your creative process?
Courtney Murphy: My process starts with an idea of shapes. Before I take photos or create my references, I decide on the general body language and shapes of the figure and drapery. Sometimes I have an idea I go with right away and other pieces require sketches and planning to narrow down the composition before I begin. For each painting I take 200-300 reference photos and then digitally combine multiple images and paint on top of them until I’ve built my reference image. Because my background is in drawing I start every painting achromatically by painting the entire composition in a cool black and warm white. This allows me to focus entirely on form, modeling and value contrast before considering color. When the painting is dry, I then progressively add color in thin oil glazes until the painting is fully saturated and resolved chromatically.
SCA: Has social media impacted your work in any way? If yes, how? If not, why do you think that is?
CM: Social media has not directly influenced the content of my work but it has been a great source of motivation and inspiration. I love being able to connect with my audience so easily, receive feedback and learn why certain pieces speak to people so successfully and others might not. Additionally, it has allowed for inspiration at a moment’s notice. I am able to see all of the new work happening all across the world and stay current with gallery and museum openings.
SCA: What is your most memorable museum experience? Can you briefly describe it?
CM: In 2006 I attended an exhibition at the Met titled “Americans in Paris.” Many beautiful pieces were included, but one painting stopped me in my tracks. I turned a corner and caught a glimpse of “The Daughters of Edward Boit” by John Singer Sargent. It was three rooms down the hallway, but it seemed to glow. I stood in front taking it all in—the composition was so balanced, yet so empty in spaces and the positions of the four girls were all equally engaging and so natural, as if Sargent just came upon them in the room. So much of the background is black “space” and it had so much depth. I still think about this painting all the time.
SCA: What is something unexpected that has impacted/influenced your artistic style?
CM: There is a film-still by Robert Longo, “Sound Distance of a Good Man,” and it is a simple image of a man looking up into the bright sun while standing in front of a statue of a lion. I found this image at a time when I was struggling in my work and I wasn’t confident in my voice or the imagery I wanted to create. This image, for reasons I can’t explain, spoke to me so strongly and made me aware of the many intrinsic elements in art and has allowed me more confidence and trust in my eye.
SCA: If you weren't an artist, what would you be doing?
CM: I would be a golfer. I love to golf and I used to balance golf and art as my two passions until art became my sole focus. I played competitively in high school and throughout college.
SCA: What city/town/geographical location has provided the most inspiration for you?
CM: Pont Aven in Brittany, France. I studied in this small town at a time when I wasn’t sure how art would play a part in my life. The town had a history in the arts as the home of Paul Cezanne and because of this history, the entire town embraced the arts and the process of creating and it was contagious. It was there where I was able to connect with the purest elements of art and fell in love with the process of painting.
SCA: Were you professionally trained as an artist? Tell us about that experience.
CM: I have been very fortunate to have studied under many spectacular artists. When I was 13 I began studying with a young artist named Jeremey Lipking, who had just started teaching at a local studio. I took charcoal drawing classes from him 4 days a week for 3 years. With the portfolio I built in these classes, I went on to major in Art at UC Davis where I took courses under a diverse group of California artists, one of which was Wayne Thiebaud. I then completed an MFA program at the New York Academy of Art where I studied oil painting under the guidance of artists such as Peter Drake, Will Cotton, Vince Desiderio and Eric Fischl.
SCA: If you could sit at a dinner table with 3 famous artists, who would they be? Why?
CM: I would love to have a conversation with Artemisia Gentileschi, she was such a powerhouse personality and strong voice for women. She was the original example of Girl Power and an unlikely woman somehow making her way in a “man’s world” before there was support for such a feat. I’d also love to sit down with Rosa Bonheur. I have walked past her painting “The Horse Fair” at the Met a hundred times and I’m always in awe of the way she captured the energy and movement of a such a quick moment. The incredible commitment and ambition it took to create that piece is admirable and I’d love to hear about her challenges, pitfalls and motivations to keep going. Lastly, Leonardo da Vinci, because he was such a brilliant mind. While his paintings are stunning, I’d love to learn more about his invention ideas and the creations he had yet to add to his notebooks.
SCA: What challenges do you face as an artist that people might not expect?
CM: It's scary unveiling one’s soul, blood, sweat and tears and then inviting feedback. We create in solitude and self-edit, and as confident as I’ve become, it is still incredibly vulnerable when revealing one’s work.
SCA: Does creating art help you in other areas of your life?
CM: Absolutely! Creating art makes me calm and centered and gives me focus in the other areas of my life. Sometimes, between bodies of work I take a brief break to clear my head and in that time I still make time to sketch, cook, crochet... When I’m not creating, I’m thinking about what I will create next.
SCA: What advice would you give to your younger self?
CM: Stop worrying about what the end result will look like. Just keep painting! The process of creating one piece allows you to get to that next piece and that might be one that really takes you somewhere. A mentor of mine used to refer to us as “makers” instead of artists and I love that term because it lowers the pressure and expectations we often put on ourselves. Instead of having the feat of “creating art” I now just always try to keep “making things.”
SCA: If you could choose a different medium to work in, what would it be and why?
Courtney Murphy: I’d love to work in sculpture, either clay or stone carving. Working in 3D isn’t natural to my hands at all but I love the tactile aspect and it forces me to think in three dimensions instead of two. Every time I have a break between pieces or feel like I need a mental stretch I make something with clay or do a relief print.
****
Kelly Bertrando
July, 2015