Name Benjamin Porter | Died April 2, 1908 | |
Benjamin Curtis Porter (August 27, 1843 – April 2, 1908) was an American artist.
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Early life
Porter was born at Melrose, Massachusetts. He was a pupil of Albion Harris Bicknell and of the Paris schools, and was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design, New York, in 1878, and a full academician in 1880.
Career
He is best known as a painter of portraits.
"Aside from study at Harvard, Porter's primary education seems to have consisted of several trips to Europe in 1872, 1875, 1878, and 1881. Cities which particularly interested him were Paris and Venice. By the early 1870s, Porter had established a successful portrait studio in Boston. His mark was made in New York in 1877 when a group of works he exhibited at the NAD Annual caused something of a critical sensation. He was soon elected to the Academy's membership (although he had to wait until 1903 to be elected to the Society of American Artists), and in 1883 he opened a New York studio, dividing his time for several years between Manhattan and Boston. His summers were usually spent in Newport, Rhode Island."
Personal life
Porter and his wife, Mary C. Clark whom he married in 1887, were included in Ward McAllister's list of Mrs. Astor's 400.
He died in New York City.