The Cultural Heritage Center has been offered the opportunity to purchase the fifteen murals removed from the Dr. Francis Howe home in Westwood, Mass in 1965.
With the help of the Bridgton community and Rufus Porter admirers worldwide, we intend to become the internationally recognized center for his work and the arts and industry of his era. Owning this set of murals, widely acknowledged as the finest example of his work, will help us to achieve this goal.
These murals are highly significant in that they are from one of only three houses known to have been signed by Porter, and are the only known dated examples. The stairway mural is signed "R. Porter, 1838" on a rocky outcrop and above that is the signature "S. T. Porter", Stephen Twombley Porter, Rufus Porter's son.
Porter was also a teacher, and in his book Curious Arts (1825) he discussed the painting of landscapes on the walls of rooms. It is thought that the spectacular quality and detail of these particular murals is due in large part to his instructional demonstration of technique and composition for the enlightenment of his son and collaborator, Stephen Twombley Porter. He shows an unusually "scientific" approach to creating perspective and depth of field without losing any of his typical naïve charm. Given Porter's stature as a true Renaissance man, these are also significant when viewed in the context of comparison with other murals executed in collaboration with other painters, his nephew Jonathan Poor and Moses Eaton, to name but two.
These murals were executed on dry plaster and are in remarkably intact and stable condition. The plaster was applied to hand-riven lath, which appears to be of native chestnut, which is in turn attached to rough sawn chestnut and pine timbers.
At the advent of the publication of Rufus Porter Yankee Pioneer by Jean Lipman, some of these murals were exhibited in 1968 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Additionally, the murals have been prominently featured in a number of other publications by Jean Lipman including American Folk Painters of Three Centuries (Lipman & Armstrong) and The Flowering of American Folk Art (Lipman & Winchester).