Friends of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, Cole Porter, Dorothy Parker, Alfred Hitchcock, and Fernand Léger, among others, Sara and Gerald Murphy strove to make something fine and beautiful of their lives through “living well,” creating art, and encouraging artist and writer friends. The result was some of the most noteworthy literature, music, theater, and art of the last century. Often portrayed simply as wealthy patrons, the Murphys in fact improvised their own brand of unconventional modernism that was a source of inspiration to their many talented friends.

Sara (1883—1975) and Gerald (1888—1964) Murphy moved to France in 1921 with their three young children to carve out a life free of the stifling social restrictions imposed by their wealthy New York families. They improvised their own brand of unconventional modernism that fostered creativity and intellectual freedom, epitomizing the “modern American” to both their countrymen and those they encountered abroad. Calvin Tomkins, in his 1971 book about the Murphys, Living Well is the Best Revenge, wrote: “Those closest to the Murphys found it almost impossible to describe the special quality of their life, or the charm it had for their friends…They were utterly captivating.”

Making It New The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy Edited by Deborah Rothschild With an Introductory Essay by Calvin Tomkins Click here to order from University of California Press