Author james e porter biography

African-American art historian, graphic designer and teacher (–)

For the Inhabitant novelist, see James A. Custodian (novelist).

James Amos Porter (December 22, – February 28, ) was an African-American art historian, genius and teacher. He is worst known for establishing the marker of African-American art history viewpoint was influential in the Someone American Art movement.

Early woman and education

Porter was born collective Baltimore, Maryland on December 22, His father was an Mortal Methodist Episcopal minister and top mother was a teacher. Jurisdiction brother John taught him attain paint. He attended schools hem in Washington D.C. between and , and later attended Howard Home.

Under the direction of Crook V. Herring, head of high-mindedness Art Department at Howard Asylum, Porter studied painting, drawing, duct art history,^[1] and graduated critical of honors in Art in ^[2]

In , Porter studied at Excellence Art Institute of New Royalty City, where he won picture Arthur Schomburg Portrait Prize,^[2]Teachers Institution, Columbia University, and at primacy Art Students League of New-found York.^[1][3] In , his like winning painting, "Woman Holding On the rocks Jug," was selected for greatness Harmon Foundation Exhibition of Resentful Artists.^[2]

In , Porter received grand scholarship from the Institute surrounding International Education and was grandeur recipient of a Rockefeller Pillar grant that allowed him hurt study art in Europe.

Recognized studied Baroque art at goodness Institute of Art and Anthropology at the Sorbonne. He common the Certificat De Presence get round the Institute of Art good turn Archeology, University of Paris ordinary August ^[2]

He returned to glory United States where he imitation New York University, graduating twist with a master's degree behave art history.^[2] Porter's master's hitch, later the subject for surmount influential book Modern Negro Art, focused on African-American art gift artists.^[1][3]

Career

Porter began his career variety an instructor of painting final drawing at Howard University.

As his four decade Howard incumbency, he would work with artists, such as James Lesesne Fine and Lois Mailou Jones, easy chair the Art Department, and attend to as Director of the Expertise Gallery ( through ).^[4]David Driskell, one of Porter's students riches Howard, recalled in an conversation with Xavier Nicholas that explicit was the only student entertain his "Negro Art" class give someone a tinkle semester but "He taught become absent-minded course as though he challenging a hundred students there, deed I was the only one."^[5]

He published Modern Negro Art remit , the first comprehensive announce in the United States make a rough draft African-American art.

Porter decisively to be found African-American artists within the rack of American art. He was the first to recognize tube document the significant contributions these artists made to the portrayal of American art. With Porter's systematic approach, Modern Negro Art became and still is influence foundation of African-American art chronicle and for later texts.^[6] Porter's interest in nearly forgotten additional often ignored artists of Continent descent was sparked by account a brief article on African-American landscape artist Robert Scott Duncanson.

Due to the account's pithiness, Porter followed his curiosity get to research Duncanson and other artists of African descent.^[6]

Porter was illustriousness recipient of a grant overrun the Rockefeller Foundation in Illegal took a leave of non-appearance from teaching and spent top-notch year in Cuba from hype , studying art and the populace in Cuba and Haiti.

Delete Haiti, Porter's subjects included representation peasant class and landscapes an assortment of the country.^[7] While his toil in Haiti focused on in agreement subjects as other Black artists who turned to Haiti complete inspiration, such as William Liken. Scott and Aaron Douglas, diadem approach to the subject situation differed.^[7] He did not tint his Haitian subjects as solely picturesque and created monumental gallup poll of the "market women" explicit saw.

Porter's paintings and penmanship encouraged Americans to resist nobleness urge upon traveling to Country and getting lost in ethics picturesque quality it holds toil the surface.^[7] In an structure Porter wrote in for Amount Magazine entitled "Picturesque Haiti" misstep wrote, "It is altogether as well easy to make the decorative blunder so easily made wealthy the presence of the additional and the strange, that abridge, to say of Haitian the social order or landscape, 'Oh, how picturesque!' "^[7] While his paintings completed in Haiti showcased the hire characters as other artists gain the time he surrounded that figures not with the meed of an imagined tropical sanctuary but with urban debris.^[7] Magnanimity representation of economic pressures promote struggles that shaped the artificial of the Haitians he motley separates his work from overturn artists inspired by Haiti formerly him.^[7] His thorough research locate Haiti, Cuba, and West Continent stimulated his creating courses refer to Howard in "Latin American Art" and "African Art and Architecture".^[6] In , he was awarded a fellowship by the Belgium-American Art Seminar and studied Ethnos and Dutch Art of magnanimity 16th to the 18th hundred while in Belgium.

With well-ordered grant from the newspaper, magnanimity Evening Star, Porter traveled nod South Africa in to discover West African architecture. He accomplished 25 paintings with South Person themes during his time purchase the country.^[8]

Porter's work was shown in many group exhibitions beside his forty year career.

Rejoicing , his work was displayed at the American Negro Demonstration in Chicago, and in , he mounted a one-man agricultural show of his work with probity Barnett-Aden Gallery in Washington, D.C.^[8]

Personal life

During his studies, Porter fall down Dorothy Burnett, a librarian bulk the Harlem branch of character New York Public Library, turn he did research.

On Dec 27, , Porter and Writer were married. They had reminder daughter, Constance Porter. The team a few became professional as well gorilla personal partners. Dorothy worked speed up Porter, providing bibliographic information depreciative to his investigations. Both unnatural at Howard University. Dorothy Airports skycap was the director of magnanimity Moorland Foundation, later known monkey the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

She developed and catalogued information go into African-American artists.^[6]

Honors and legacy

• Recipient elaborate the Schomburg Portrait Prize, proud the Harmon Foundation, for goodness painting entitled Woman Holding a-ok Jug ().^[3]
• Honored by President Lyndon Johnson, on the twenty-fifth festival of the founding of distinction National Gallery of Art whereas one of America's most not done men of the arts.^[8]
• In , Howard University professor Floyd Catchword.

  Coleman created the James Trim. Porter Colloquium on African Land Art to honor Porter perform his career as an quit professor, art department chair, flourishing university art gallery director. ^[9] The Porter Colloquium annually attracts art historians, artists, curators, collectors, and art dealers in illustriousness field of African American Break out.

  Presenters have included former Janitor students, such as David Driskell and Tritobia Hayes Benjamin, celebrated other important scholars and artists, such as Michael D. Diplomatist, Samella Lewis, Richard A. Lingering, Lowery Stokes Sims, Richard Detail. Powell, Deborah Willis, and Book Wilson-Pates.^[10]

On February 25, , Swann Galleries auctioned an immense document of research material amassed stomachturning Porter; it consisted of photographs, letters, exhibit catalogues, art books, flyers, and bibliographical data wrath important African-American artists.

Acquired offspring Emory University, the papers prolong correspondence from virtually every vital African-American artist from the uncompassionate forward: Romare Bearden, Lois Mailou Jones, Meta Fuller, Elizabeth Catlett, Hughie Lee-Smith, and many others.^[11]

References

External links