early life and education
charles fairfax murray, a renowned english painter, dealer, collector, benefactor, and art historian, was born in 1849 in bow, near london. he grew up in sudbury, suffolk, where he studied drawing, possibly under thomas gainsborough's great nephew,
gainsborough dupont.
artistic career
at the age of 12, murray was employed in the drawing office of the railway entrepreneurs peto & betts and was taken into sir samuel morton peto's home to draw portraits of his family. he was later introduced to
john ruskin at the age of 16 and installed as
edward burne-jones's first studio assistant in 1867. murray rapidly became one of the circle of pre-raphaelite founder
dante gabriel rossetti, and a friend of
william morris and
philip webb.
notable works and associations
legacy and philanthropy
murray's aim was always to put his works into public collections. in 1904, he sold his collection of over eight hundred pre-raphaelite drawings to the
birmingham museum and art gallery. he also gifted several notable paintings, including
titian's tarquin and lucretia, to the
fitzwilliam museum in cambridge.
notable donations: later life and death
charles fairfax murray died in london in january 1919, following a series of strokes, leaving behind a legacy as a connoisseur and benefactor of the art world.
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