CHARLES ETHAN PORTER (1847 - 1923) Chrysanthemums.
Oil on linen canvas, circa 1881-1883. 355x435 mm; 14x17⅛ inches. Signed in oil, lower left.
Provenance: the estate of Constance E. Clayton, Philadelphia.
Chrysanthemums is an excellent example of the floral still life painting of Charles Ethan Porter, and was likely made during or shortly after his brief but important Paris period. In 1881, Porter moved to Paris for approximately two years, where he enrolled at the École Nationale Superiéure des Arts Décoratifs before studying at the Académie Julian, like many American painters. While he unsuccessfully attempted to show his work in the Salon, his still life paintings were infused with a realism greatly influenced by Henri Fantin-Latour's lush still life painting. With Paris's growing fascination with Japanese art and culture, the Asian chrysanthemum had also became a popular flower and painting subject.
Helen K. Fusscas in The Paintings of Charles Ethan Porter notes how Porter's large, flourished signature with the independent marks in the capital "E" dates to paintings made between 1881-1883. Fusscas pp. 51-52.
