I spent a day with Fairfield Porter when he visited Yale in the fall of 1974. My assignment was to meet him at the train station and deliver him to the School of Art, where apart from lunch at The Old Heidelberg on Chapel Street, his day was filled with critiques and an evening lecture.
My 22-year-old self had not sufficiently developed to pose the best questions, but I was struck my his gentlemanly demeanor that stood in contrast to the truculent swagger adopted by many painters at that time. Porter’s passing in 1975 was unexpected. A collection of his essays, articles, and lectures was assembled and edited by Rackstraw Downes. His lucid prose conveys a blend of erudition and delight in making and looking at art, in a voice from a time when the art world had not forgotten the true value of art.
DOWNLOAD a FREE PDF of Art in Its Own Terms: Selected Essays 1935-1975. Edited with an Introduction by Rackstraw Downes. Taplinger Publishing. New York. 1979.