Sixth Avenue I (State I)

Fairfield Porter

1971

Fairfield Porter’s 1971 lithograph Sixth Avenue I quietly translates an everyday New York street into a painterly study of light, atmosphere, and ordinary activity.

A soft, sandy sky and flattened planes of muted ochres, grays, and pale yellows first strike you, reducing cars, buildings, and a traffic light to elegant, hand-painted shapes that recede toward a distant, pale skyscraper.

Working against the era’s dominant abstraction, Porter affirmed the value of direct observation—bringing a painterly, intimate realism to printmaking that helped keep everyday urban life visible in postwar American art.

Palette

Art Terms

Lithography Print Cityscape Figurative Contemporary art

Exhibitions

American Prints of the 20th Century

1954

New York/New York

1978

The Artists' New York

1942

70 Photographers Look at New York

1957