[2] Porter came from an "old Massachusetts family whose scions have been good citizens, soldiers, divines and lawyers in America.
"[3] He was a pupil of Dr. Rimmer and Albion Harris Bicknell in Boston and of the Paris schools after traveling extensively in America and Europe.
[4] Porter, who began his career as a figure painter, eventually devoted himself to portraiture entirely.
Aside from study at Harvard, Porter's primary education seems to have consisted of several trips to Europe in 1872, 1875, 1878, and 1881.
His mark was made in New York in 1877 when a group of works he exhibited at the NAD Annual caused something of a critical sensation.