Fairfield Porter - John Wilmerding

A figurative realist in the heyday of abstract expres- sionism,
Fairfield
Porter
(1907-1975)
painted himself, his family, and friends in New York City, in Southampton, Long Island, and on an island off the Maine coast, all depicting a relaxed and comfortable world
that
seemed
to
mirror
his
own
affluent,
well- connected existence. With virtually all of the artist's previous
publications
now
out
of
print,
this
much- anticipated
volume
is
an
important
addition
to
the literature on this great American master.Porter
graduated
from
Harvard
in
1928
and
then studied at the Art Students League in New York with Thomas Hart Benton. Along with months in Maine, Porter
lived
in
New
York
and
from
1948
on,
in Southampton
where
he
purchased
a
large,
late Federal-style
house
for
his
own
expanding
family. Porter painted several artist friends, including Elaine de
Kooning,
Larry
Rivers,
and
Jane
Freilicher.
He was
also
close
to
the
modern
poets
John
Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, and James Schuyler.With a carefully curated selection of the artist's best works,
John
Wilmerding,
a
specialist
in
American art,
gives
full
consideration
to
Porter's
expressive compositions
and
a
color
palette
influenced
by
his coastal
surroundings.
Karen
Wilkin
discusses Porter's
influences
and
pictorial
creativity.
Distin- guished poet J. D. McClatchy writes a reflection on one of Porter's paintings.