Edward M. Bannister
Painter Edward Bannister was born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1828. He was a founder and active member of The Providence Art Club and his paintings specialized in landscape scenes. Bannister was the first African American to win a national award at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. However when he approached the stage to receive his award, officials rejected is acceptance because of his race. As a result, his competitors and fellow artists upheld the decision and he was then awarded his prize.
Bannister’s wife was Christiana Carteux Bannister was a famous hairstylist in Providence with clients all around New England. The couple participated in abolitionist movements and become very influential in the Providence’s arts community.
His work can be found in the John Hay Library, RISD Museum, and Providence Athenaeum and a bust of his wife is located in the Rhode Island State House.
– written by Keila Davis
Edward Bannister Helps to Find the Providence Art Club
In 1880, Bannister and 16 other colleagues created the Providence Art Club as a meeting place for artists and art lovers.
1890s
Edward Bannister and his wife lived at 93 Benevolent St
Bannister and his wife Christiana Carteaux lived in the home for 14 years.
Excerpt from speech entitled "Edward Mitchell Bannister Lived at 93 Benevolent Street"
"At 93 Benevolent Street Edward Bannister rose up in the morning, walked though the rooms of his home, sat in the evenings and thought long and hard about Sabin Point, Narragansett Bay, and The Mill in Knightsville andLeucothea Rescuing Ulysses, and about A Man on Horseback And A Woman on Foot Driving Cattle. He thought about Oxen Hauling Rails, and Fort Dumpling at Jamestown, and a Street Scene in downtown Boston. And he made notes and drew sketches and thought about color and pigment and brushstroke and history and human interaction; about the beauty of the beasts of burden, the power and mystery of their presence in our world, and he thought about the people and the faces he set out to paint, about what they showed of lives lived and about how those lives can be enshrined on canvas." - written by artist and blogger Marilyn Richardson
1966
Edward Bannister’s Work is Displayed at RISD
On March 24, 1966 The Rhode Island School of Design had an exhibit for the art of Edward Mitchell Bannister. His work seemed to have a renaissance of sorts during this period of time.