Georgia painter Christopher Patrick Hussey Murphy was born to Irish immigrant parents in Savannah. He undertook no formal art training as a youth, but rather built a sizeable collection of art books which he used as resources for study and practice. Murphy joined the family's commercial painting business at the age of nineteen and later served briefly in the military. In 1902, Murphy married fellow Savannah artist Lucile Desbouillons and the couple became immersed in Savannah's burgeoning art community. The father of seven children, Murphy was able to travel along the East Coast, visiting Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York, recording his impressions and visiting museums. Murphy enrolled in summer plein air painting classes with Eben Comins in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1915 and soon after began to enter his paintings in exhibitions at the American Water Color Society, becoming an associate member of that organization in 1928. The artist also worked in oil, pastel, and charcoal, eventually showing at the Fourth Annual Exhibition of American Art in New York, Art Institute of Chicago, Cincinnati Art Museum, Washington Watercolor Club, and Southern States Art League, as well as other local and regional outlets. Two of the Murphys' seven children followed their parents' example and pursued artistic careers. Their eldest child Christopher enjoyed an exceptionally distinguished career of national repute, while their daughter Margaret became a noted and beloved painter and teacher in Georgia.