Judith Murray (b. 1941, New York City) is an American abstract painter known for her rigorous, self-imposed formal structure and expressive use of color. Since the mid-1970s, Murray has worked exclusively with a limited palette of red, yellow, black, and white—mixing an expansive range of hues—and has maintained a consistent near-square, horizontal canvas format offset by a distinctive vertical bar on the right edge. This compositional device, which frames and disrupts the main body of each painting, speaks to her interest in boundaries, rhythm, and abstraction as both process and object.
Murray’s work has been described by critic Lilly Wei as “an extended soliloquy on how sensation, sensibility, and digressions can still be conveyed through paint,” positioning her as a deeply intuitive and intellectually engaged painter. Her practice resists trends, embracing instead a long-evolving exploration of form, gesture, and perception. While each painting is unique, her commitment to a specific visual language underscores a lifetime of investigation into the power of abstraction.
Murray has received prestigious awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and honors from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her work has been exhibited internationally, with solo shows at MoMA PS1, the Clocktower Gallery, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, and group exhibitions at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museo de Arte Moderno (Mexico City), and during the Venice Biennale at Museo di Palazzo Grimani.
She studied at Pratt Institute (BFA, MFA) and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, and has held teaching positions at institutions including the University of Hawaii, Pratt Institute, and Princeton University. Murray divides her time between New York City and Sugarloaf Key, Florida, where she lives with her husband, artist Robert Yasuda.
