Benjamin Curtis Porter (August 27, 1843April 2, 1908) was an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

Early life

Porter was born at

Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population, per the 2020 United States Census, is 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. ...

on August 27, 1843. He was the son of Charles Porter and Julia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

Curtis) Porter. Porter came from an "old Massachusetts family whose scions have been good citizens, soldiers, divines and lawyers in America." He was a pupil of Dr. Rimmer and Albion Harris Bicknell in Boston and of the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

schools after traveling extensively in America and Europe.

Career

Porter, who began his career as a figure painter, eventually devoted himself to portraiture entirely. He was elected an associate of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

, New York, in 1878, and a full academician in 1880. Porter opened his studio, at 3

Washington Square North Waverly Place is a narrow street in the Greenwich Village section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, that runs from Bank Street to Broadway. Waverly changes direction roughly at its midpoint at Christopher Street, turning about 120 deg ...

, in New York in 1880. Today, he is best known for his portraits. He was also the artist behind the portrait of

Caroline Astor Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn Astor (September 22, 1830 – October 30, 1908) was a prominent American socialite of the second half of the 19th century who led the Four Hundred. Famous for being referred to later in life as "the Mrs. Ast ...

’s niece and grandniece, Helen Suydam Cutting, wife of

Robert Fulton Cutting Robert Fulton Cutting (June 27, 1852 – September 21, 1934), was an American financier and philanthropist known as "the first citizen of New York." Cutting and his brother William started the sugar beet industry in the United States in 1888. He ...

and Ruth Hunter Cutting who would go on to marry into the

Auchincloss Auchincloss is a surname of Scottish origin, derived from an area in Ayrshire known as ''Auchincloich'', which is Scottish Gaelic for "field of stones". It is also the name of a prominent American family, from ' ("field") and ' ("stone"). Notable ...

family. The portrait has been kept with the family for generations.

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 Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New ...
.

Gallery

Maud Howe, portrait, facing right.jpg, Portrait of Maud Howe, 1870s Benjamin Curtis Porter portrait de Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont.jpg, Portrait of Alva (née Smith) Vanderbilt Belmont, Emily Thorn Vanderbilt Sloane White.jpg, Portrait of Emily Thorn (née Vanderbilt) Sloane, 1888 Maria Louisa Kissam.jpg, Portrait of Maria Louisa ( Kissam) Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899).jpg, Portrait of

Cornelius Vanderbilt II Cornelius "Corneil" Vanderbilt II (November 27, 1843 – September 12, 1899) was an American socialite and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. Noted forebears He was the favorite grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbil ...

Benjamin Curtis Porter - Portrait of the Artist's Son, Sydney.jpg, Portrait of the Porter's son, Sydney, 1901

Personal life

In 1887, Porter married Mary Louise Clark of Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1892, both Benjamin and his wife were included in

Ward McAllister Samuel Ward McAllister (December 28, 1827 – January 31, 1895) was a popular arbiter of social taste in the Gilded Age of late 19th-century America. He was widely accepted as the authority as to which families could be classified as the cream o ...

's list of " Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. Porter was a member of the

Tuxedo Club The Tuxedo Club is a private member-owned country club located on West Lake Road in the village of Tuxedo Park, New York, in the Ramapo Mountains. Founded in 1886 by Pierre Lorillard IV, its facilities now include an 18-hole golf course, lawn ten ...

and the National Arts Tavern Club in Boston. He died at his residence, 22 West 11th Street in New York City, on April 2, 1908. His funeral was held at the Church of the Ascension on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 populatio ...

and West 10th Street.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Benjamin Curtis 1843 births 1908 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters American portrait painters People from Melrose, Massachusetts Painters from Massachusetts National Academy of Design members 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists