Floral Still Life

Charles Ethan Porter so realistically painted this bouquet that you can almost smell it. Porter was one of the first African American artists to specialize in still lifes and study at the National Academy of Design in New York. His clientele included the author Mark Twain.

Porter studied in Paris and ater returning an 1887 newspaper article described his still lifes as "American tempered by the French" with "a grace and poetic fragrance that captivate and charm." Although he may have been influeced by French artists, his subject matter was homegrown. His mother's gardens and the woodlands and fields surrounding his Connecticut home inspired him.