A Fairfield Porter Print: "Interior with Christmas Tree"

Fairfield Porter (1907-1975) : Interior with Christmas Tree (1971) Large, hand-signed lithograph. Although not dated, this limited edition lithograph was printed in 1971 by Bank Street Atelier (embossed stamp at bottom of print). It was published by M. Knoedler and Company, Inc. New York and Brooke Alexander Inc. A figurative realist in the heyday of Abstract Expressionism, Fairfield Porter shunned "isms" and continually broadened his approach, painting himself, his family and friends in New York City, in Southhampton, Long Island, and on an island off the Maine coast.  Porter has been characterized as a major American artist comparable to Pierre Bonnard in his subjective receptivity to people and events, a painter who caught the essence of each moment and never repeated himself. Porter created gritty cityscapes in the 1930s, when he dabbled in radical political causes. From his friend Willem de Kooning, Porter learned to paint quickly and fearlessly, and from Bonnard and Vuillard, he was guided on his artistic course. Porter's airy, light-filled landscapes, interiors, portraits and crystalline ocean views are now renowned in the Modern American Realist genre.