| TITLE
| Untitled |
| CREATOR | Bannister, Edward Mitchell, 1828-1901 |
| DATE | 1875-1900 |
| DIMENSIONS | 5.875 x 9.875 in.
|
| ORIGINAL FORMAT | Painting |
| MEDIUM | Watercolor on paper |
| PHYSICAL NOTE | Untitled work originally from artist’s sketchbook with scenes of the Rhode Island landscape |
| DONOR | Bequest of Ruth C. Ely |
| DATE OF ACCESSION | 1977 |
| LOCATION | Providence Athenæum: Philbrick Rare Book Room |
Prominent Black artist Edward Mitchell Bannister was born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1828, and moved to Boston in 1848. He learned to paint while living in Boston, and was particularly influenced by the Barbizon School and plein air style of landscape painting. He moved to Providence with his wife Christiana Bannister in the 1850s and became an influential member of the art community. His artistic career flourished after he won the first prize bronze medal for his painting Under the Oaks at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876.
Bannister was a founding member of the Providence Art Club. This untitled work was originally part of a sketchbook containing drawings and watercolors that was bequeathed to the Athenæum by Ruth C. Ely, daughter of former Athenæum President Joseph C. Ely. In 1977, a subcommittee of the Board decided to sell individual works from the Bannister sketchbook to public, educational, and charitable institutions. There are three works by Bannister remaining in the Athenæum’s collection.
Lancaster, Jane. Inquire Within: A Social History of the Providence Athenæum Since 1753. Providence Athenæum, 2003, pp. 122,162.
Bannister, Edward Mitchell. Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828-1901. New York, Kenkeleba House, 1992.
Chin, Sarah. “Edward Bannister Landscapes” 2016. ARTH 401: Cataloguing Curiosity, Wheaton College, student paper.