David Driskell cites James A. Porter not only as his mentor and professor but also as the man who inspired him to see art, and particularly the practice of painting, as a necessary accompaniment to the study of art history. Porter himself was both an art historian and a painter. Although he is best remembered for his sensitive portraits of his family and friends, he also painted still lifes, landscapes, and genre scenes from both his immediate surroundings and his extensive travels throughout Africa, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States.

As a student, Driskell had always been impressed with the content and quality of Porter's work. Driskell was especially attracted to the small scale and quaint depiction of children at play in Porter's Playground, a composition he personally requested of the artist. Porter agreed to give Driskell Playground in exchange for a comparable work from his young mentee. Although Porter died before being able to personally deliver the painting, his wife, librarian and scholar Dorothy Porter-Wesley, later completed the transaction in her husband's memory.   T. F.