James Porter by Matthew Harris Jouett

Matthew Harris Jouett was one of several northern artists who spent their winters in New Orleans during the 1820s. When Jouett arrived in New Orleans, he was already a highly respected and accomplished artist. Since he had virtually exhausted the portrait market in Kentucky, he traveled south to Natchez and New Orleans in search of new commissions. During his seasonal trips to New Orleans, Jouett painted numerous portraits of the growing middle class.

Born in Kentucky, Jouett probably received some art training as a student at Transylvania University in Lexington. Encouraged by his father, he turned to law as a profession, but his interest in art never waned. During the War of 1812, he joined the Twentieth Regiment of a United States Infantry and became paymaster. In the midst of the war he lost six thousand dollars of infantry pay vouchers and other important papers. Subsequently, he resigned his position, returned to Kentucky, changed careers, and opened a portrait and miniature studio. In 1816 Jouett improved his technique when he studied with famed portraitist Gilbert Stuart in Boston.

James Porter emigrated from Ireland to Tennessee in 1801 after the British hung his father for treason. Eventually settling in Louisiana, he married Sallie Anne Murphy of St. Martinville and served in the 1883 state legislature. Typical of Jouett’s works, the sitter was painted with lush, thick brushstrokes and placed off center with a minimal background. The Louisiana State Museum also has a Jouett portrait of James’s brother Alexander Porter. Alexander served as a judge on the Louisiana Supreme Court and as United States Senator and built Oak Lawn Plantation on Bayou Teche in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.