Iced Coffee 1966

Fairfield Porter painted this picture of a relaxed domestic scene, probably en plein air, sometime in the middle of the 20th century using oil on canvas. Porter’s brushwork feels honest and direct; he wasn’t trying to show off. Look how he’s built up the image from simple, flat planes of color, one sitting right next to the other. Nothing is blended or fussy. The painting has a warm, easy-going feeling. The subdued palette, mostly yellows, greens, and browns, gives it a feeling of soft light, a lazy afternoon. I’m drawn to the area around the vase of flowers – see how the light bounces off the petals, and the way he’s suggested their forms with just a few strokes of paint? It’s a reminder that painting is always about choices, about what to include and what to leave out. Like with Bonnard, who knew a thing or two about domestic interiors, Porter seems to be suggesting that even the most ordinary moments can be beautiful, and that beauty is always a question of how we choose to see.