Forsythia and Pear in Bloom

Fairfield Porter, Forsythia and Pear in Bloom, 1968, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1977.48.4
Copied Fairfield Porter, Forsythia and Pear in Bloom, 1968, oil on canvas, 36 1⁄8 x 29 in. (91.7 x 73.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1977.48.4

Artwork Details

Title
Forsythia and Pear in Bloom
Artist
Date
1968
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
36 1⁄8 x 29 in. (91.7 x 73.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Woodward Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — garden
  • Landscape — tree — pear tree
  • Landscape — plant — forsythia
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — house
Object Number
1977.48.4
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1977.48.4

Artwork Description

This composition shows a white-flowering pear tree in the center, with the bright yellow flowers of forsythia bushes in the background. The building just visible beyond the foliage is Porter's home in Southampton, New York, which was the setting for many of his paintings. The natural environment featured prominently in Porter's work, and he and his brother, the photographer Eliot Porter, were keen environmental campaigners. The critic Hilton Kramer coined the phrase "the art of conservation" in reference to Porter's painting, and compared his position in the art world to the place "our parks and gardens and surviving areas of unmolested countryside stand in relation to our overdeveloped urban centers." (Spike, Fairfield Porter: An American Classic, 1992)