AFA 20th Anniversary

Antiques & Fine Art 141 2020 Founding Father Benjamin Franklin (1705–1790) fostered the Enlightenment in America. Espousing reason and inquiry over superstition and faith, Enlightenment ideals also inspired Rufus Porter’s quest to promote useful knowledge, a term denoting an understanding of the natural world, how things worked, and how mechanical operations might be improved—all in the search of a better world. Known for his experimentation (electricity) and publications ( Poor Richard’s Almanack ), Franklin helped to establish in 1743 the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, a scholarly organization that promotes science and the humanities. Other Society notables included members of the Vaughan family of Hallowell, Maine, who donated this bust to Bowdoin College in 1835. Jean-Jacques Caffieri (1725–1792), Benjamin Franklin, ca. 1785. Painted plaster, 29⅞ x 19¾ x 12⅛ in. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Me.; Gift of William Vaughan (1835.1). Photography by Luc Demers. previous page Front Hall Mural (first floor), 1838, Francis Howe House, West Dedham (now Westwood), Massachusetts, by Rufus Porter (1792–1884) and Stephen Twombly Porter (1816–1850). Distemper-on-plaster. 69 x 123½ in. Private Collection. Photography by Luc Demers. A brilliant muralist, Porter’s spatial designs on all four sides of a room immersed residents in breathtaking panoramic landscapes. The mural’s waterscape features ships, islands, towers, and distant mountains, reminiscent of Portland in Casco Bay, Maine, where Porter lived for nearly a decade. With masterful technique and perspectives, the scenery expressed the cultural phenomenon based in Enlightenment thought known as American Fancy. The imaginative use of color, pattern, and motion of American Fancy designs engaged the mind and senses. Porter’s murals inspired followers throughout New England, but none surpassed him.