Fairfield Porter 1907-1975

The artist and art critic Fairfield Porter, fourth son of the prominent Ruth and John Porter, was born in 1907 in Winnetka, Illinois, a town just outside of Chicago. The Porters spent their summers in Maine, and Porter later stated that "Maine [was his] home more than any other place, and [he belonged] there" (Fairfield Porter, quoted in Fairfield Porter: Realist Painter in an Age of Abstraction, 11). Porter's parents, an architect (his father) and a poet (his mother), placed a heavy emphasis on an intellectual education, and Porter was raised to be "more scholar and critic" than someone who took inspiration and pleasure from the light, colors, and textures of the world around him. As such, Porter later "needed to disregard his education in order to free himself to paint" (Justin Spring, Fairfield Porter: A Life in Art, 3). But Porter disregarded more than just his education. Porter was descended on both sides from prominent New England families but rarely spoke about his ancestry. This was in part because of his socialist-leaning politics, which were in direct opposition to identification with a hierarchical class structure, but also simply because he wished to be known for his art, rather than be defined by or recognized because of his background. But although Porter largely disavowed his rarefied family history, he was "as much a product of [it] as he was a rebel against it"-- Porter had a lifelong "deep respect for tradition" which is most noticeable in his art through his choice of classical compositions such as the landscape and still life (Spring, 2). 

In tracing the path of Porter's life, one gets the sense that it was spent in a perpetual state of searching. After attending Harvard, Porter spent time travelling the European continent, absorbing the art, culture, and politics primarily of Italy and Russia. In 1928, following his travels, Porter moved to New York City, where he enrolled at the Art Students League. All the while, Porter courted Anne Channing, a childhood acquaintance. After Fairfield and Anne married, they moved often: to Chicago, back to New York City, and finally, to the Southampton village on Long Island, New York. Together they had five children, the first of which, Johnny, was disabled. Given Porter's initial "ambivalence towards fatherhood," his family life was often strained, especially as the Porters realized their eldest son required attentive care. However, Fairfield eventually "took up parenting with enthusiasm," and the love he had for his family is evident in his many paintings depicting Anne and their children (Spring, 91). 

For much of his career, Porter saw himself as a failure. While it is true that he did not attain critical success until near to the end of his life, he was by no means the failure he considered himself to be. Rather, his work was largely misunderstood as a simple and faithful recording of the everyday when in truth, it was so much more. Porter's work eventually received the recognition it was due and is now owned by such prestigious collections as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and many more.