Fairfield Porter was an American Realist painter notable for making representational paintings at the height of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Porter’s work—often portraits, interiors, and landscapes of Maine and Southampton, where he had family homes—is characterized by an energetic, painterly style. His distinctively expressive hand was influenced by the French painters Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, and by his familiarity with the gestures of Abstract Expressionism. As a Realist, Porter drew from his own life for his subjects: for example, his daughter, Katie, is depicted in the yard of their family home in Under The Elms(1971–1972). “Subject matter must be normal in the sense that it does not appear sought after, so much as simply happening to one,” the artist once remarked. Born on June 10, 1907 in Winnetka, IL, Porter studied fine art at Harvard University and continued his education at the Art Students League in New York, where he befriended influential writers such as Frank O’Hara and John Ashbery. Porter was a critic as well as a painter, remaining politically active throughout his life and regularly contributing to the leftist magazine The Nation. He died on September 17, 1975 in Southampton, NY.
