Untitled (Landscape with Bridge), n.d.

Edward Mitchell Bannister, Untitled (Landscape with Bridge), n.d., watercolour on paper, 48.3 x 74.9 cm, Collection of Kenkeleba House, New York.
In this moody watercolour sketch of an overcast day, a serene body of water reflects the surrounding trees and the small bridge in the middle ground. Employing a restrained colour palette dominated by dark reds and browns, Bannister pays careful attention to the tonal qualities of the composition. Untitled (Landscape with Bridge), n.d., is one of many drawings, watercolours, and oil studies that Bannister produced during his summer sketching trips in the 1880s. He purchased a sloop yacht, named the Fanchon, and sailed between Providence and Newport as well as north to Bar Harbor, Maine. These studies served as the basis for Bannister’s winter commissions. His ability to afford a yacht and spend the summer months exclusively producing sketches attests to the financial and artistic success he enjoyed in the 1880s.
Gallery

Untitled (Rhode Island Seascape), c.1856

Portrait of Christiana Carteaux Bannister, c.1860

Untitled (moon over a harbor, wharf scene with full moon and masts of boats), c.1868

Newspaper Boy, 1869

Governor Sprague’s White Horse, 1869

Fort Dumpling, Jamestown, Rhode Island, n.d.

Oak Trees, 1876

Untitled (floral still life), n.d.

Fishing Shacks, c.1877–85

Newport, 1877–82

Hay Gatherers, c.1893

People Near Boat, 1893

Seaweed Gatherers, c.1898

Untitled (Landscape with Bridge), n.d.

Boston Street Scene, 1898–99