Edward Mitchell Bannister (November 2, 1828 – January 9, 1901) was an American Tonalist oil painter.
He began his professional practice as a photographer and portraitist before developing his more well-known landscape style. ==Biography== === Early life === Bannister was born on November 2, 1828, in St.
In collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design and the Frederick Douglass Institute, the National Museum of African Art held an exhibition titled Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828–1901: Providence Artist in 1973.
His father Edward Bannister died in 1832, so Edward and his younger brother William were raised by their mother, Hannah Alexander Bannister.
There, he practiced drawing by studying and reproducing two Hatch family portraits, as well as studying the family library and Bible. Bannister and his brother found work aboard ships as mates and cooks for several months before immigrating to Boston sometime in the late 1840s.
She died in 1844, after which Bannister and his brother lived on the farm of the wealthy lawyer and merchant Harris Hatch.
In the 1850 US census, they are listed as living at the same boarding house, with the Revaleon family, and working as barbers.
One of his first commissions, The Ship Outward Bound, might have been a veiled reference to the forced return of Anthony Burns to slavery and Virginia under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in 1854.
Although most cultural institutions barred Black Bostonians from entrance, Bannister would have had access to several, like the Boston Athenæum library, with collections of European art sources and exhibitions of Luminist marine painters like Robert Salmon and Fitz Hugh Lane. === Boston activist, artist, and student === Bannister met Christiana Carteaux in 1853 when he applied to be a barber in her salon.
simply for the want of proper training." Bannister received his first oil painting commission, The Ship Outward Bound, in 1854 from an African American doctor, John V.
One of his first commissions, The Ship Outward Bound, might have been a veiled reference to the forced return of Anthony Burns to slavery and Virginia under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in 1854.
The two-and-a-half-story wooden house was built circa 1854 by engineer Charles E.
The couple boarded for two years with Lewis Hayden and Harriet Bell Hayden at 66 Southac Street, a stop on Boston's Underground Railroad (a support network for escaped slaves). In 1855, William Cooper Nell acknowledged Bannister's rising artistic status in The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution for his The Ship Outward Bound.
They married on June 10, 1857, and she became, in effect, his most important patron.
By 1858, Bannister was listed as an artist in Boston's city directory.
He sang a tenor in the Crispus Attucks Choir, which performed anti-slavery songs at public events, and acted with The Histrionic Club, as well as serving as a delegate for the New England Colored Citizens Conventions in August 1859 and 1865.
In May 1859, Bannister served as the secretary for the church's meetings to respond to the Oberlin–Wellington Rescue of imprisoned fugitive slaves and, in 1863, to plan celebrations for the Emancipation Proclamation. During the US Civil War, Carteaux lobbied for equal pay for African American soldiers and organized the 1864 soldiers’ relief fair for the Massachusetts 54th infantry regiment, 55th infantry regiment, and 5th cavalry regiment, which had gone without pay for over a year and a half.
At the time, Boston was an abolitionist stronghold, but it was also sharply divided by race; in 1860, Boston was one of the most segregated cities in the US.
Through Rimmer and the community at the Studio Building, Bannister was inspired by the Barbizon school-influenced paintings of William Morris Hunt, who had studied in Europe and held numerous public exhibitions in Boston around the 1860s.
Around 1862, he spent a year training in photography in New York, likely to support his painting practice, He then found work as a photographer, taking solar plates and tinting photos.
In May 1859, Bannister served as the secretary for the church's meetings to respond to the Oberlin–Wellington Rescue of imprisoned fugitive slaves and, in 1863, to plan celebrations for the Emancipation Proclamation. During the US Civil War, Carteaux lobbied for equal pay for African American soldiers and organized the 1864 soldiers’ relief fair for the Massachusetts 54th infantry regiment, 55th infantry regiment, and 5th cavalry regiment, which had gone without pay for over a year and a half.
One of Bannister's earliest commissioned portraits was of Prudence Nelson Bell in 1864, which is around when he found studio space at the Studio Building in Boston.
In May 1859, Bannister served as the secretary for the church's meetings to respond to the Oberlin–Wellington Rescue of imprisoned fugitive slaves and, in 1863, to plan celebrations for the Emancipation Proclamation. During the US Civil War, Carteaux lobbied for equal pay for African American soldiers and organized the 1864 soldiers’ relief fair for the Massachusetts 54th infantry regiment, 55th infantry regiment, and 5th cavalry regiment, which had gone without pay for over a year and a half.
Once Bannister was established as an artist, abolitionist William Wells Brown praised Bannister in his 1865 book: Bannister was part of Boston's African American artistic community, which included Edmonia Lewis, William H.
He sang a tenor in the Crispus Attucks Choir, which performed anti-slavery songs at public events, and acted with The Histrionic Club, as well as serving as a delegate for the New England Colored Citizens Conventions in August 1859 and 1865.
The painting was purchased by the state of Massachusetts and installed in its state house, but its current location is unknown. Bannister's activism also took other forms: on June 17, 1865, Bannister marshaled around 200 members of the Twelfth Baptist Sunday School at a Grand Temperance Celebration on Boston Common.
An 1867 article in the New York Herald belittled both Bannister and his work, stating, "the negro has an appreciation for art while being manifestly unable to produce it".
Lewis that lasted from 1868 to 1869.
Lewis that lasted from 1868 to 1869.
At the same time, Bannister had begun to receive more recognition within white art circles in Boston. === Providence === Supported by Carteaux, Bannister became a full-time painter from 1870 on, shortly after they moved to Providence, Rhode Island, at the end of 1869.
At the same time, Bannister had begun to receive more recognition within white art circles in Boston. === Providence === Supported by Carteaux, Bannister became a full-time painter from 1870 on, shortly after they moved to Providence, Rhode Island, at the end of 1869.
Collectors and local notables Isaac Comstock Bates and Joseph Ely were among his patrons. He was an original board member of the Rhode Island School of Design in 1878.
In 1880, Bannister joined with other professional artists, amateurs, and art collectors to found the Providence Art Club to stimulate the appreciation of art in the community.
With that experience in mind, Bannister decided not to submit any works to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition since they would have to be pre-judged in Boston before they could even be sent to Chicago. In the 1880s, Bannister bought a small sloop sailboat, the Fanchon, and he would spend his summers sketching, painting watercolors, and sailing Narragansett Bay and up to Bar Harbor in Maine.
As his career matured, he received more commissions and accumulated many honors, several from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association (silver medals in 1881 and 1884).
As his career matured, he received more commissions and accumulated many honors, several from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association (silver medals in 1881 and 1884).
He continued to show paintings at Boston Art Club exhibitions, as well as in Connecticut and at New York's National Academy of Design, and exhibited A New England Hillside at the New Orleans Cotton Exposition in 1885.
He supplemented his sailing trips with journeys to exhibitions in New York, but a planned trip to Europe fell through due to funding problems. In 1885, with other art club members, Bannister helped found the "Anne Eliza Club" (or "A&E Club")—a communal men's discussion group whose members shared art and literature.
Bannister's 1885 drawing The Woodsman is thought to be Bannister's response to the murder of Amasa Sprague, an event that spurred the abolition of capital punishment in Rhode Island after the dubious conviction and hanging of John Gordon.
Stetson often mentioned Bannister in his personal diaries and once praised Bannister by writing, "He is my only confidant in Art matters & I am his." Rhode Island engineer George Henry Corliss commissioned a painting from Bannister in 1886, as his reputation grew. Bannister and Carteaux were consistent members of the African American community in Providence.
In the lecture The Artist and His Critics given to the Ann Eliza Club on April 15, 1886, and published afterward, Bannister spelled out his belief that making art is a highly spiritual practice—the pinnacle of human achievement.
Shephard in 1887 and 1893. Sometime around 1890, Bannister sold the Fanchon to Judge George Newman Bliss.
Shephard in 1887 and 1893. Sometime around 1890, Bannister sold the Fanchon to Judge George Newman Bliss.
Later in the 1890s, Bannister seems to have sold fewer paintings, perhaps due to waning popularity, and exhibited less often.
His largest exhibition of works was held in 1891, when he showed 33 works at the Spring Providence Art Club Exhibition.
Edward exhibited his painting Christ Healing the Sick in the home in 1892 and donated his portrait of Carteaux to it as well.
With that experience in mind, Bannister decided not to submit any works to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition since they would have to be pre-judged in Boston before they could even be sent to Chicago. In the 1880s, Bannister bought a small sloop sailboat, the Fanchon, and he would spend his summers sketching, painting watercolors, and sailing Narragansett Bay and up to Bar Harbor in Maine.
Shephard in 1887 and 1893. Sometime around 1890, Bannister sold the Fanchon to Judge George Newman Bliss.
In 1898, Bannister closed his studio and the couple moved to Boston for a year before returning to a smaller home in Providence on Wilson Street in 1900. === Death === Bannister died of a heart attack on January 9, 1901, while attending an evening prayer meeting at his church, Elmwood Avenue Free Baptist Church.
In 1898, Bannister closed his studio and the couple moved to Boston for a year before returning to a smaller home in Providence on Wilson Street in 1900. === Death === Bannister died of a heart attack on January 9, 1901, while attending an evening prayer meeting at his church, Elmwood Avenue Free Baptist Church.
Edward Mitchell Bannister (November 2, 1828 – January 9, 1901) was an American Tonalist oil painter.
In 1898, Bannister closed his studio and the couple moved to Boston for a year before returning to a smaller home in Providence on Wilson Street in 1900. === Death === Bannister died of a heart attack on January 9, 1901, while attending an evening prayer meeting at his church, Elmwood Avenue Free Baptist Church.
Whitaker even referred to him as "The Idealist" in a 1914 article "Reminiscences of Providence Artists." The lecture and its idealistic view are linked to Bannister's Approaching Storm, which he completed in the same year.
Paine and is now known as "The Vault" or "The Bannister House." Euchlin Reeves and Louise Herreshoff purchased the house in the late 1930s and renovated it to add a brick exterior.
Still, he and his paintings are an indelible part of a refigured relationship between African American culture and the landscapes of Reconstruction-era America. Bannister's art continued to be supported by galleries like the Barnett-Aden Gallery, and following the civil rights movement in the 1960s, his work was again celebrated and widely collected.
Herreshoff died in 1967 and the porcelain collection filling the Bannister House was donated to Washington and Lee University. The house is now listed as contributing to College Hill's historical designation.
In collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design and the Frederick Douglass Institute, the National Museum of African Art held an exhibition titled Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828–1901: Providence Artist in 1973.
The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame inducted Bannister in 1976, and, in 1978, Rhode Island College dedicated its Art Gallery in Bannister's name with the exhibition: Four From Providence: Alston, Bannister, Jennings & Prophet. The New York-based Kenkebala Gallery held two exhibitions of Bannister's work, one in 1992 curated by Corrinne Jennings in collaboration with the Whitney and one in 2001 on the centennial of Bannister's death.
The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame inducted Bannister in 1976, and, in 1978, Rhode Island College dedicated its Art Gallery in Bannister's name with the exhibition: Four From Providence: Alston, Bannister, Jennings & Prophet. The New York-based Kenkebala Gallery held two exhibitions of Bannister's work, one in 1992 curated by Corrinne Jennings in collaboration with the Whitney and one in 2001 on the centennial of Bannister's death.
Brown University bought the property in 1989 and used it to store refrigerators.
The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame inducted Bannister in 1976, and, in 1978, Rhode Island College dedicated its Art Gallery in Bannister's name with the exhibition: Four From Providence: Alston, Bannister, Jennings & Prophet. The New York-based Kenkebala Gallery held two exhibitions of Bannister's work, one in 1992 curated by Corrinne Jennings in collaboration with the Whitney and one in 2001 on the centennial of Bannister's death.
The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame inducted Bannister in 1976, and, in 1978, Rhode Island College dedicated its Art Gallery in Bannister's name with the exhibition: Four From Providence: Alston, Bannister, Jennings & Prophet. The New York-based Kenkebala Gallery held two exhibitions of Bannister's work, one in 1992 curated by Corrinne Jennings in collaboration with the Whitney and one in 2001 on the centennial of Bannister's death.
It was sold to Professor Jeff Huang in 2016 as part of the Brown to Brown Home Ownership Program—the program specifies that if the house is ever sold, it has to be sold back to the university. ==Selected artworks== ==References== ==Further reading== ==External links== Edward Mitchell Bannister at American Art Gallery Biographical sketch and images at World Wide Art Resources Narratives of Art and Identity: The David C.
From June 9 to October 8, 2018, the Gilbert Stuart Museum held an exhibition honoring Bannister and Carteaux's relationship, "My Greatest Successes Have Come Through Her": The Artistic Partnership of Edward and Christiana Bannister, as part of its Rhode Island Masters exhibition series.
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