Fairfield Porter
(American, 1907–1975)
Biography
Fairfield Porter was an American artist who produced representational paintings during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism. Porter viewed his practice as a marriage between the intimiste depictions of everyday life by Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, with the lush paint handling of his friend Willem de Kooning. The artist’s ability to simplify light into shapes of color, is highlighted in his painting Island Farmhouse (1969). “Subject matter must be normal in the sense that it does not appear sought after, so much as simply happening to one,” he once remarked. Born on June 10, 1907 in Winnetka, IL, Porter studied fine art at Harvard University before continuing his education at the Art Students League in New York. During his early years in the city, Porter befriended influential poets such as Frank O’Hara, James Schuyler, and John Ashbery, as well as the painters Jane Freilicher and Alex Katz. Porter was a critic as well as an artist, and regularly contributed reviews to art magazines as well essays to The Nation. He died on September 17, 1975 in Southampton, NY. Today, the artist's works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, among others.
Fairfield Porter Artworks
Fairfield Porter
(737 results)
Fairfield Porter
The dog at the door, Boo boo at the door..., 1971
Sale Date: October 30, 2007
Auction Closed
Fairfield Porter
The table (+ The Christmas Tree, 35/100; 2..., 1971
Sale Date: September 27, 2006
Auction Closed