Frederic Porter Vinton: Beginnings

"La Blanchisseuse" by Frederic Porter Vinton

"Frederic Porter Vinton was born in Bangor, Maine, on January 29, 1857. He came of New England stock, although he believed that the Vintons were originally of Huguenot descent. His parents removed to Chicago when he was ten, and his formal education was gained largely in the public schools of that city; although in a wider sense his mind was formed and developed by intelligent and continued reading, by contact with cultivated minds, and by travel. After five years in Chicago, the family returned to the East, and the boy of fifteen obtained a place as clerk in the house of Gardner Brewer & Co. In the following year, 1862, he changed to the employ of Hovey & Co., and here remained for three years. It was during this period that he determined definitely to be a painter, his decision being greatly influenced by the sympathy and advice of William M. Hunt.

His acquaintance with Hunt came about through an incident seemingly sufficiently trivial. As a clerk at Hovey's he was sent across to the old Mercantile Library Building to secure a rope from which a campaign flag was to hang over the street. Arrived on the roof, he found himself looking down into the studio in which Hunt was at work on 'The Listener' Thoroughly absorbed, he hung over the skylight, forgetful of his duty in the store across the way, and then and there he came to the resolution, might for the modest and unknown youth, to carry to the famous artist some of his sketches."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Frederic Porter Vinton" by Arlo Bates on behalf of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1911.)