1905 Building

Fairfield Porter: An American Painter was organized by the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, and featured over 50 major oil paintings of landscapes, portraits, and interiors — revealing Fairfield Porter as an exceptional American artist.

The exhibition focused equally on his main themes: landscapes, portraits, and interiors, many painted during the years he and his family lived in Southampton, New York. Porter was often described as a realist painter; however, actual subject matter was, in fact, of little concern to him. It was, indeed, in the paint itself that he found the life, vitality, and wholeness of the painting. It is the tension between realism and abstraction that reveals the essential character of Porter’s art.

The exhibition was accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by Curator William C. Agee, as well as Porter’s art criticisms and poetry.

This exhibition was organized by the Parrish Art Museum and William C. Agee, 20th Century Art Historian and Professor of Art History, Hunter College, New York.