James AmosPorter was born in Baltimore in 1903. At an early age, he learned to drawand loved pictures. In school, Porter worked hard to perfect his artisticskills. By the time he reached high school, people recognized that he wouldbecome an artist and a scholar.
After high school, Porter attended Howard University in Washington D.C. Therehe received his bachelor's degree in art. In 1927, Porter was appointed asan assistant professor at Howard. Later, he studied with Dimitri Ramanowskyin New York at the Art Students' League and at the Sorbonne in Paris. Hisstudies came to an end after Porter received a master's degree in art fromNew York University in 1936.
During the time he studied, Porter painted, held exhibitions and traveledthe world to expose himself to different forms of art. In 1929, six of hispaintings were exhibited by the Harmon Foundation with an honorable mention.His work, Woman Holding a Jug, won him first prize in the Arthur A.Schemburg Portrait Contest. In 1940, Porter's work was included in the exhibit"The American Negro Exposition". Porter's scholarly ways led him to writeModern Negro Art, a book that it is considered one of the most importantbooks ever written on the subject. He also wrote many articles on art.
Porter's work earned him numerous solo exhibits including one at the Barnett-AdenGallery in Washington D.C. He also earned two Rockefeller Foundation grants,a research grant from the Washington Post and the National Gallery of ArtMedal. At the National Gallery of Art's twenty-fifth anniversary, Porterwas named one of America's most outstanding men of the arts. In 1970, JamesAmos Porter died in Washington D.C.
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