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4 unusual facts about Charles Ethan Porter


Charles Ethan Porter

He left Hartford for Rockville in 1889, where he briefly had a studio in the Fitch Block, and later at the remains of a tower on Fox Hill, which a family member owned.

Later, his fortunes declined, possibly because of health issues and certainly because of mounting racism nationwide, and he sold his paintings door-to-door in Rockville, Connecticut, where he died in 1923 in virtual obscurity, around the age of 75.

Madison Museum of Fine Art

Galleries display original works by American and European masters including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Charles Ethan Porter, and Joseph Leyendecker.

Vernon, Connecticut

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Gene Pitney also grew up in the town, from which he obtained his stage name: "The Rockville Rocket." Charles Ethan Porter (c. 1847-1923), an African American still life painter, moved to the Rockville neighborhood as a child.



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