entire inventory of paintings. Half of the paintings sold immediately for a total of $1062; additional sales resulted in a total of $1800. In early November 1881, Porter sailed for Liverpool. After an art tour of London, he traveled to Paris, with letters of introduction from Hartford's most prominent citizens, including Samuel Clemens, the author known as Mark Twain. In Paris he studied the works of the influential artists of the Barbizon school of painting. He enrolled in the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, where he studied until 1884, when he ran out of money and returned to Hartford. In December 1884, he hosted an art exhibition and auction of 100 paintings from his time in France. His new work was praised by the Hartford Evening Post, but the auction did not get the attendance or make the sales that Porter had hoped for. In early 1885, Porter returned to New York City and opened a studio. He exhibited his work at the National Academy of Design and continued to paint. He spent the summer of 1885 in Rockville, Connecticut, teaching art and painting landscapes. By November 1886, Porter was back in Hartford again. He partnered with local artist Daniel Wentworth to hold auctions in 1887 and 1888, Wentworth contributing landscapes and Porter contributing primarily still lifes. The paintings sold for prices ranging from $6 to $100. By 1889, Porter had left Hartford for the last time. He spent most of the year in New York City and summers in Rockville, Connecticut until 1897, when he settled permanently in Rockville. The quality of Porter's work declined after 1900 and interest in his work subsided. Porter died on March 6, 1923, at the age of 75. Legacy Porter’s art began to regain interest among art historians and collectors in the 1980s. The first museum show featuring his work debuted in 2008, organized by the New Britain Museum of American Art, and his paintings have entered public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Birmingham Museum of Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, and Wadsworth Athenaeum. Image gallery Notes References Further reading Ifkovic, Ed. 'The Colored Artist': A Novel based on the life of Charles Ethan Porter. Createspace 2016. Krieble, Helen et al., Charles Ethan Porter, 1847?-1923 (exhibition catalog, Connecticut Gallery, 1987) New Britain Museum of American Art, Charles Ethan Porter: African-American Master of Still Life (2008), exhibit and