Document Type
Program
Publication Date
1995
Abstract
The work of Fairfield Porter defies classification partially due to its directness and seeming simplicity, which ma ks an undercurrent of complexity and mystery-even ambiguity. The term "American Realist Painter," so often attached to Porter's name, only adds to this difficulty in that the context of Porter's development as an artist was a setting of varied styles and influence . Even among the artist of the past that Porter admired-Velazquez, Rubens, and Vuillard, to name a few-variation is prominent. Much ha been said about Porter's initial stance a a maturing artist in the I 940s and '50s as being au rebours, or against the grain. As a representational artist, hi work seemed to defy the then-prevalent critical focus of painting, Ab tract Expressionism in particular. In a 1952 correspondence with Lawrence Campbell, however, Porter listed Willem de Kooning, the leading practitioner of that movement, among his influence.
Repository Citation
,
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(1995). Figuration/Abstraction: Fairfield Porter/Willem de Koonig. .
https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/art/55
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