FAIRFIELD PORTER (1907-1975) was most concerned with color. His papers include seventeen sketchbooks. His pencil sketch of an Arizona town includes his notes on color. "That's what I want to know when I look at a drawing," explained Porter in an interview with Paul Cummings, "I want to use it for something that's going to be colored. So I give myself that information."*
* Fairfield Porter interviewed by Paul Cummings, June 6, 1968, p. 75. Oral History Collection, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Fairfield Porter Sketchbook, c. 1945, 8 x 10 in. Arizona landscape study, pencil on paper. Fairfield Porter Papers, Archives of American Art.
Description of Fairfield Porter's Papers |
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|---|---|
| CREATOR: | Porter, Fairfield. |
| TITLE: | Fairfield Porter papers, 1888-1981. |
| PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: | 4.0 linear ft. (on 7 microfilm reels) reel 1999, 1311-1314, 2675-2676 |
| BIO/HISTORICAL NOTE: | Painter, critic; Southampton, New York. Lived 1907-1975. |
| SUMMARY: | Correspondence; sketchbooks and sketches; notebooks; notes and articles; account books; photographs; biographical material; writings; inventory; travel diaries; manuscripts of poems; exhibition catalogs; clippings; and printed material. |
| REELS 1311-1314: | Many letters and statements from Porter's galleries, Tibor de Nagy and Hirschl & Adler; letters from friends Garrett Mills Brown, Richard S. Freeman, Ted Leigh, Rackstraw Downes, Lucien Day, and others; 17 sketchbooks and more than 200 sketches; 11 notebooks; notes and articles by and about him; account books for 1946-1972; photographs; and clippings. |
| REEL 1999: | Manuscripts of poems from friends John Ashbery, Robert Dash, Rackstraw Downes, Howard Griffin, Kenneth Koch, Carl Morse, Frank O'Hara, David Shapiro, James Schuyler, Margaret Tynes Fairly, and others; a file on Arthur Young containing writings and notes; a copy of "Parenthese" containing reminiscences about Porter by John Bernard Myers; a postcard from Frank O' Hara, 1959; a letter from Joseph Cornell, 1966; an obituary for Porter; and miscellaneous unsigned writings. |
| REELS 2675-2676: | A birth certificate, passports, awards, and other biographical material; letters to his mother, Ruth W. Porter, 1924-1935; copies of letters sent, 1940-1961; letters received from Joe Brainard, Lucien Day, Arthur Giardelli, Leon Hartl, Kenneth Koch, Paul Mattick, John Bernard Myers, Ron Padgett, Larry Rivers, James Schulyer, David Shapiro, his brothers and sister, Edward Eliot, John and Nancy, and others; letters of condolence to his wife, Anne; writings; and inventory of Porter's residence at 312 E. 52nd St., New York City; Ruth Porter's writings, 1888-1937, and travel diaries, 1922, 1924, and 1931; exhibition catalogs; clippings; printed material on Subud, a religious organization; six blueprints done for the Navy, 1943; and miscellaneous printed material. |
| RESTRICTIONS: | Patrons must use microfilm copy. |
| PROVENANCE: | Donated 1977-1982 by Anne Porter, widow of Fairfield Porter. |
| FINDING AIDS: | Reels 2675-2676: Finding aid available in AAA offices. |
| ADDITIONAL FORMS: | 35mm microfilm reel 1999, 1311-1314, 2675-2676 available for use at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. |
