Fairfield Porter

This summer I saw a small and lovely Fairfield Porter show at the Michael Rosenfeld gallery. I loved seeing Porter's quintessential summer light.

I was especially fascinated by his portraits. "Chris, Sarah, Felicity" a group of three teenagers and "Laurence in Two Lights" (seen here). You get the feeling of personality but it is subsumed in Porter's painterly approach. The painting is the subject here which gladdens my heart.

I often struggle with this issue. How much of the subject must be revealed or remain? More on this later, off to the studio, Porter always makes me want to paint.