Charles Ethan Porter: African-American Master of Still Life

This full color catalogue celebrates the works of Connecticut-born, African-American artist Charles Ethan Porter that documents a special exhibition of fifty-two paintings. Written by well-known scholar Hildegard Cummings, the catalogue documents the first major display of works by Porter. Porter painted mainly portraits, flowers, insects, fruit, and landscapes--subjects that became his signature style. He was well-regarded among critics and the public, and his work caught the eye of Samuel Clemens who introduced Porter and his work to influential circles both in the U.S. and abroad.

Charles Ethan Porter was born in the late 1840s in Rockville, Connecticut. In 1871, he was accepted into the prestigious National Academy of Design in New York. He gave art lessons to support himself through school, then eventually opened a small studio in New York City. In the late 1870s, Porter moved back to Hartford, and his work began showing up in local exhibitions and art galleries. At this time he produced some of his better-known paintings. Porter died in 1923 having moved back to Rockville.