Charles Ethan Porter (1847 – March 6, 1923) was an American painter who specialized in still life painting. A student at the National Academy of Design in New York City, he was one of the first African Americans to exhibit there. He was the only African-American artist at the turn of that century who painted in still life and the first known professional Black artist to concentrate on still life.

Early life and education

thumb|left|Civil war soldier, 1872

Porter was born most likely in 1847 in Hartford, Connecticut. His father was possibly a mill worker and his mother worked as a servant. Porter's family moved to what was then the nearby village of Rockville (now part of Vernon, Connecticut) by the early 1850s. The family suffered many losses when Porter was young. They endured poverty and tragedy just a few years after moving to Rockville. Porter lost seven of his siblings to illness and one to war between 1858 and 1868. In December 1884, he hosted an art exhibition and auction of 100 paintings from his time in France. His new work was praised by the Hartford Evening Post, but the auction did not get the attendance or make the sales that Porter had hoped for.

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Image:Banjo player by Charles Porter.jpg|Banjo player, c 1880

Image:Roses by Charles Ethan Porter, c. 1882, oil on canvas - New Britain Museum of American Art - DSC09546.JPG|Roses, 1882

Image:Flies on a Plate.jpg|Flies on a Plate, 1878

Image:Landscape_with_grain_stacks_1882.jpg|Landscape with Grain Stacks, c 1882

Image:'Still Life' by Charles Ethan Porter, San Antonio Museum of Art.jpg|Still Life c. 1880

Image:Charles_Ethan_Porter_-_Autumn_Landscape_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg|Autumn Landscape, c 1891

Image:Untitled_(Cracked_Watermelon)_by_Charles_Ethan_Porter,_c._1890.JPG|Untitled (Cracked Watermelon), 1890

Image:Charles Ethan Porter - Lilacs - Google Art Project.jpg|Lilacs, 1890

Image:Mountain Laurel 2000.10 1a.jpg|Mountain Laurel, 1888

Image:Still_life_with_apples_-charles_ethan_porter.png|Still Life with Apples, 1886

Image:Charles Ethan Porter - Peonies in a Vase (c. 1885) - NGA.jpg|Peonies in a Vase, circa 1885

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Notes

References

Further reading

  • Ifkovic, Ed. 'The Colored Artist': A Novel based on the life of Charles Ethan Porter. Createspace 2016.
  • Krieble, Helen et al., Charles Ethan Porter, 1847?-1923 (exhibition catalog, Connecticut Gallery, 1987)
  • New Britain Museum of American Art, Charles Ethan Porter: African-American Master of Still Life (2008), exhibit and monograph catalog
  • Charles Ethan Porter, Hartford Black History Project
  • Artwork by Charles Ethan Porter
  • Charles Ethan Porter, connecticuthistory.org