Porter, Fairfield, b. 1907 d. 1975
PainterSouthampton, N.Y. (Show Bio)
Fairfield Porter interview, 1968 June 6
Sound recordings: 1 sound tape reel (3 hours, 30 min.) ; 7 in.
Transcript: 65 p.
An interview of Fairfield Porter conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art. Porter speaks of his family background and Harvard education; the Art Students League; his involvement with Marxism and his work as an art critic for ART NEWS and THE NATION.
He discusses his portrait commissions, his choice of subject matter, theories of realism versus abstraction and drawing versus color, and the role of the unconscious and the accidental in his art. He recalls Thomas Hart Benton, Jacques Maroger, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Walter Auerbach, Thomas B. Hess, Clement Greenberg, and Alex Katz.
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
How to Use this Interview
- Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
- Transcript available on line at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/porter68.htm
- A transcript of this interview is available online.
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