Prestigious grant to enable first major exhibition on 19th century painter Edward Mitchell Bannister

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] - With a new federal grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an art and architecture scholar from Brown University will lead the development of an exhibition featuring the artwork of 19^th century painter Edward Mitchell Bannister.

The African American artist, who spent decades living and working on College Hill in Providence, is best known for his pastoral landscapes and seascapes, including many that depict Rhode Island's coastline.

Dietrich Neumann, a Brown professor of the history of art and architecture, has partnered with Rhode Island College Associate Professor Sara Picard to develop the exhibition, which is expected to be the first major Bannister retrospective, and an accompanying catalog.

"Bannister stands at a very important moment of European influence and American art intersecting, as he picks up ideas from both and develops them further," Neumann said. "Making his work better known is part of a long overdue recognition of African American painters of the 19^th century. His work presents an important contribution to the history of American art."

The $75,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Humanities Projects program will enable Neumann, Picard, a curatorial team, and an advisory board including scholars, collectors and community members to develop in detail the scope, direction and curatorial approach of the exhibition and catalog.

"Receiving this support from the National Endowment for the Humanities has been such a great encouragement for the whole team," Neumann said. "This is a wonderful endorsement of our project, and we are grateful."

Neumann and Picard anticipate including about 60 to 70 paintings by Bannister in the exhibition, along with comparative work by other artists. Their goal is for the exhibition to travel nationally to museums in 2027 and 2028, which is the 200th anniversary of Bannister's birth date. The planning team is in early talks about partnerships with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which owns more than 100 of Bannister's paintings; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia; and the RISD Museum in Providence. The RISD Museum owns 11 of Bannister's landscape paintings, and Brown is home to six works.

In addition to artwork, the exhibition is expected to highlight Bannister's biography and the racial and spatial context in which he worked and lived. The artist, who lived in Boston for many years and then in Providence from 1870 until his death in 1901, was a co-founder of the Providence Art Club and a prominent member of the Providence art scene in those decades. He was also an art critic, portraitist and photographer.

Bannister and his wife - Christiana Carteaux Bannister, a Rhode Islander of African American and Narragansett descent who supported his career as an artist through her hair salon and wig business - were deeply involved in abolitionist causes and philanthropic enterprises in Providence.

The couple lived at 93 Benevolent St., a home that was in disrepair and bought by Brown University in 1989. Through the Brown to Brown Home Ownership program, the University restored the building's exterior to its original condition, affixed a marker in recognition of its historical significance and sold the residence in 2016. In 2018, the City of Providence renamed a nearby College Hill street once called Magee Street to Bannister Street in their honor. Last year, the Bannister Community Art Project installed a life-size statue of the artist sitting on a bench in Market Square on the Providence River.

Bannister received some recognition for his art during his lifetime, including a prize at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition for his painting "Under the Oaks." Upon discovering that Bannister was Black, the judges wanted to "reconsider" the award, but his white competitors pushed to uphold the decision, and Bannister was awarded the medal, according to Bannister's Smithsonian biography.

"In many ways, this project ties into the existing community efforts to celebrate the Bannisters that were already there, at Brown, at the Providence Art Club and in Providence," Neumann said.

Brown University faculty members Anthony Bogues, Mack Scott and Patricia Rubertone and Registrar and Curator of Campus Collections Nicole Wholean are among the members of the project's advisory board.

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