Albert Ketcham Murray, a native of Kansas, studied art at Cornell University, then graduated cum laude from Syracuse University. He received special tutelage from the noted portrait artist Wayman E. Adams. During World War II, Murray served with distinction in the Navy, was awarded the Bronze Star and reached the rank of commander. To his studio on West Sixty-Seventh Street in New York came a succession of prominent clients, who Murray portrayed with depth, imagination and precision.