Common Ground with Fairfield Porter

"Self Portrait in the Studio"
Oil on Panel, 22 x 16
Fairfield Porter, 1968

Meet Fairfield Porter, a 20th century American painter. I don't know why I had not been very familiar with Porter's work until recently. It's a funny thing--often when I am drawn to a painter, and delve deeper into his work, I discover that he or she was influenced by some of my other favorite artists. It goes to show that

the bloodlines of the art world are quite strong! One teacher or painter's influence can be very widespread. So I guess it is no surprise that common lineage abounds among painters I admire.

"Apples and Roses"
Oil on Canvas, 22 x 18
Fairfield Porter, 1967

One of the biggest influences on Fairfield Porter was Edouard Vuillard (who is, as faithful blog readers know, one of my personal art heroes). In fact, Porter said that it was upon seeing an exhibit of Vuillard and Bonnard at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1938 that he first realized he wanted to be a painter. Porter and Vuillard share an affinity for painting familiar spaces. They often painted domestic interiors and views through doors and windows. They both loved what Porter called "visual reality". But mostly I think their similarity can be captured in what Porter said of Vuillard: "What he is doing seems to be ordinary, but the extraordinary is everywhere." 

"House with Three Chimneys"
Oil on Canvas
Fairfield Porter, 1972

Porter was born into a wealthy family, and was quite an intellectual. He studied at the Art Students League in NYC, and later wrote art criticism. Clearly, he was an outlier in an age of abstract art. Or as the subtitle of his retrospective said, "Realist Painter in an Age of Abstraction." Yet to Porter, realism and abstraction were not so far apart. In fact, he noted that "The important thing for critics to remember is the 'subject matter' in an abstract painting, and the abstraction in representational work." In either case, Porter would say it's all about the paint.

"View from Bear Island"
14 x 15
Fairfield Porter, 1968

Porter lived in Southhampton and summered in Maine. His paintings seem quintessentially American. In fact, some have said that critics were slow to give Porter his due, because his subjects were so conventional and comfortable. It was only after a big retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1983 that his reputation was finally cemented as an American classic. It's a pleasure to introduce you! You can read more about him here.

"Red and Brown Interior"
Oil on canvas, 16 x 14
Fairfield Porter, 1970