Rufus Porter’s Curious World: Art and Invention in America, 1815–1860

Dates:

December 12, 2019 - May 31, 2020

Location:

Halford Gallery, Bernard and Barbro Osher Gallery

This exhibition celebrates the artist and inventor Rufus Porter (1792–1884), an imaginative polymath and entrepreneur curious about art, science, and communication technologies.

Selected Works

Unidentified Gentleman, ca. 1825, probably Massachusetts, watercolor, ink, and graphite, attributed to Rufus Porter, American, 1792–1884. Private Collection. Photography by Ralph Morang.

Rufus Porter, inventor, unidentified engraver, Plumb and Level Indicator, ca. 1846, New York, N.Y., hand-colored engraving, metal pointer, wooden frame. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine. Photography by Luc Demers.

“The Travelling Balloon,” Scientific American (New York, N.Y.), September 18, 1845, by Rufus Porter, American, 1792–1884. Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.

Rufus Porter, designer, Masthead of Scientific American, August 8, 1845, New York, N.Y. Private Collection.

West Dedham (now Westwood), Massachusetts Francis Howe House Mural (first-floor hall), signed and dated 1838, distemper paint on plaster, by Rufus Porter, American, 1792–1884, and Stephen Twombly Porter, American, 1816–1850. Private Collection. Photography by David Bohl.

Submarine Sighting Mechanism, 1806, watercolor, graphite and ink, by Robert Fulton, American, 1765–1815. Library of Congress.

About

This exhibition celebrates the artist and inventor Rufus Porter (1792–1884), an imaginative polymath and entrepreneur curious about art, science, and communication technologies. Arousing and connecting the public through diverse activities, Porter was a visionary who foresaw in his moment—antebellum America—the heady dreams of our current networked culture. Presenting new research and long-hidden objects, the exhibition returns Porter to his rightful place, the national stage. Examples of Porter's paintings, publications, and patent models are being generously lent from public and private collections, many exhibited for the first time.

This exhibition was made possible through generous support of the Elizabeth B. G. Hamlin Fund, Stevens L. Frost Endowment Fund, John P. and Alison Moore, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, Robert and Elizabeth Freson, Susan Zuckert W’56, The Carl M. Lindberg Family Foundation, Inc., and Julia B. Leisenring.

Read the Press Release

Read the exhibition labels

Press

Enjoy this press coverage of the exhibition.

The Art Newspaper December 10, 2019

The Magazine Antiques, January 28, 2020

Maine Calling (Maine Public Radio), recorded on January 29, 2020

Features Karla Leandri Rider, Executive Director, Rufus Porter Museum in Bridgton, Laura Sprague, senior consulting curator, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Justin Wolff, co-curator of the Porter exhibit at Bowdoin; professor of art history, University of Maine, and Julie Lindberg, collector of Rufus Porter's work, and antique dealer in the decorative arts

Maine Sunday Telegram, February 5, 2020

Scientific American, February 2020

Panorama, spring 2020

Multimedia Resources

Laura Fecych Sprague and Justin Wolff, co-curators, share insights about the exhibition "Rufus Porter's Curious World: Art and Invention in America, 1815-1860." The exhibition was on view at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine in 2019-2020.