05/08/2026 General, Modern & Contemporary Art
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle is honored to auction Property from the Collection of Joseph M. Murphy, a distinguished financier, philanthropist, Marine Corps veteran and civic leader whose life reflected a deep commitment to service, education and community.
Born in 1935, Mr. Murphy was the son of Irish immigrants Michael Murphy of Dunworley, County Cork, and Mary Sullivan of Ballyporeen, County Tipperary. He attended Rice High School in Harlem and later Iona College, both operated by the Christian Brothers. After one year at Iona, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving from 1953 to 1956 in Korea, and remained deeply connected to the Marine Corps throughout his life.
Following his military service, Mr. Murphy returned to Iona and graduated with honors in 1959. He later attended the Graduate School of Business at New York University and earned his CPA in public accounting. Early positions with Pannell, Kerr, Forster & Co. and Price Waterhouse & Co. launched a successful career in banking, finance and real estate investment. Mr. Murphy held senior leadership roles with Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and later spent more than three decades as Chairman of Country Bank. He also led Value Investors, Inc., overseeing notable redevelopment and urban renewal projects in New York and beyond.
Mr. Murphy’s greatest legacy may well be his extraordinary philanthropy and lifelong dedication to education, healthcare, the arts, veterans and Catholic institutions. A devoted supporter of his alma mater, he and his family transformed the campus of Iona through landmark gifts supporting the Murphy Science and Technology Center, the Christopher J. Murphy Auditorium, the Murphy Green, the Iona College Art Center and numerous student and academic initiatives. He served for more than twenty years as a Trustee of Iona and was later named Trustee Emeritus.
He also served in leadership roles at numerous organizations, including the Marine Corps–Law Enforcement Foundation, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, the Marine Corps University Foundation, the Marine Military Academy and the Columbia University Medical Center Board of Advisors. President George H. W. Bush appointed him to the National Board of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.
Mr. Murphy received numerous honors throughout his lifetime, including the 2004 Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Marine Corps University Foundation’s Major General John H. Russell Leadership Award. He also received the Leonard F. Chapman Medal for distinguished service to the Marine Corps University Foundation.
A visionary leader, generous benefactor, proud Marine and passionate advocate for education and the arts, Joseph M. Murphy left behind a legacy of service, compassion and enduring impact that will continue to inspire generations to come.
“We have only a certain amount of life on earth and, to the extent that we have that time available, I think we have to commit it to benefit mankind,” he told The New York Times in a 1988 interview. “I like to think we can make the world a little better place when we leave it than we found it.”
Featuring Irish Paintings from the Collection of Joseph M. Murphy
Auction Wednesday, May 20 at 11am
Exhibition May 16 - 18
Property from the Collection of Joseph M. Murphy brings together a thoughtfully assembled group of eight Irish works that highlight the richness and evolution of 20th century Irish modernism through paintings by such leading figures as Evie Hone, Mary Swanzy, Gerard Dillon, Patrick Collins and Louis le Brocquy. Spanning early modernist experimentation to lyrical postwar abstraction, the collection offers a compelling survey of Irish artistic innovation across the 20th century, unified by the discerning eye of a dedicated collector.
Above (l-r): Evie Sydney Hone, Abstract Composition, circa 1928. Lot 12 / Evie Sydney Hone, Composition with Guitar. Lot 13 / Mary Swanzy, Cubist Landscape With Trees, circa 1927. Lot 14 / Mary Swanzy, Street Scene II, 1942. Lot 15.
Above (l-r): Gerard Dillon, Bird + Bird Canvas, circa 1960. Lot 16 / Patrick Collins, Light in the Forest, 1972. Lot 17 / Patrick Collins, The Rook. Lot 18 / Louis le Brocquy, Ming Gold Fish, 1984. Lot 19.