Fairfield Porter was born in Winnetka, Illinois. A realistic artist, he is best known for his landscapes and sunlit views of interiors, although he also did portraits and still lifes. His work is often described as modernized American impressionist.

In addition to receiving a degree from Harvard University, he took formal art
training from 1928 to 1930, and studied with Boardman Robinson and Thomas
Hart Benton at the Art Students League in New York City. Later, in 1949, he moved to Southampton, Long Island, where he painted images that reflected his comfortable life as a country dweller, and his appreciation of the effects of nature.

Porter combined a soft, pastel palette with a broad brushstroke. Subjects were suburban and without obvious problems, similar to the content of other realists of his time, such as Larry Rivers and Alex Katz.

Porter makes no attempt at perfect representation and will insert objects such as lopsided bottles and awkward figures, which are clearly planned to contribute to the overall structure of the painting. His works of portraiture included many famous subjects, such as Larry Rivers, Andy Warhol and the poet John Ashbery.

In addition to his work as an artist, Porter was also a writer, publishing art
critiques in major art journals throughout the 1940s and 1950s, as well as a
monograph about Thomas Eakins in 1959.