Edward Mitchell Bannister

Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828–1901) was born in New Brunswick, Canada but settled in Boston and quickly became the first African-American artist to be recognized as an American regionalist painter. He was also active in the abolitionist movement. In 1876 he came to national attention when his painting Under the Oaks was awarded a first-prize medal at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Bannister served on the first board of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He moved to Providence, Rhode Island where he was one of the three founders of the Providence Arts Club in 1880. Primarily he is known as a landscape artist, although his style ranged from naturalistic to expressionistic.