From The Dauer Collection Late 20th Century Etching with Drypoint on Paper 24"x21.5" framed, 15.5"x13.5" unframed Edition 11/175 Entitled The Nine O'Clock Boat, this late 20th century etching with drypoint on paper boat scene is signed and titled by the artist Bill Murphy at the bottom. Excellent vintage condition. Framed in a contemporary wood frame with a distressed metallic silver veneer using 8-ply archival matting behind conservation clear glass. About the Artist Bill Murphy (b. 1952) was born in Staten Island in 1952. He studied at The School of Visual Arts, NY; the Art Students League, NY; Pratt Graphic Center, NY; and received an MFA from Vermont College, Montpelier, VT. He holds the rank of Professor of Visual Arts at Wagner College, Staten Island, where he has taught since 1983. Murphy is a member of Audubon Artists, Inc.; Print Club of Albany; and the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA). Murphy’s prints have been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. His work is in the permanent collections of The British Museum, London, England; Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; New York Historical Society, New York, NY; New York Public Library, New York, NY; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; The Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, Staten Island, NY, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY; Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY; Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; Syracuse University Museum, Syracuse, NY; among others. About the Collector John A. Dauer (1933-2017) was a collector of many things, the vast majority of which convey stories of hard work, craftsmanship, industry, unsung histories, and associations with those he loved and respected. Born and raised on Staten Island, New York in 1933, John grew up among a close-knit family of entrepreneurial bakers, wood carvers, and leather merchants. He graduated in 1954 from Columbia College with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. He went on to work with his father John Sr., at the New York City-based John A. Dauer Leather Company. During and after his undergraduate studies, John enrolled in painting, print making, and sculpture classes at Columbia, the New School for Social Research, and Greenwich House. Many of his teachers (including Margot Kempe and Peppino Mangravite) were recent European emigres and WPA artists, sympathetic to the themes of social realism and late modernism. Although he made his living and supported his family as a leather salesman, John consistently maintained an interest in, and passion for, the creative work of artists and craft people throughout his life. The subjects and scale of his collecting varied over the years (from large 18th century cupboards to hand carved fishing lures), but let’s just say his houses and barns often resembled mini-Mercer Museums. During his last 2 decades, John focused his collecting efforts on the work of print makers and painters who reminded him or were directly associated with those who influenced him during his New York youth. Images and the stories of sailors, stevedores, factory workers, craftsmen, pushcart vendors, musicians, stoop sitters, and artists abound.
