Artist and Abolitionist

Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828–1901) was a Black Canadian-American artist whose pastoral landscapes and seascapes made him the most well-known painter in Rhode Island in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Born in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Bannister spent the early part of his career in Boston before moving to Providence, where he was a leading artist for thirty years. Achieving financial and critical success when slavery and racial segregation were realities in America, the artist and ardent abolitionist declared: “I have been sustained by an inborn love of art and accomplished all I have undertaken through the severest struggles.” This exhibition explores the development of Bannister’s career, the considerable social barriers he overcame, and his unique insight into the American landscape and its relationship to the history of the Black community in Rhode Island.

To learn more about Bannister, click here and read about artist and curator David Woods’s work on this noted artist.

Banner Image: (left) Edward Mitchell Bannister, Newport, 1877–82, oil on waxed canvas, 43.2 x 73.4 cm, Collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, Gift of Gerald Scher (1983.95.147); (right) Photograph of Edward Mitchell Bannister.