Edward Mitchell Bannister : Hidden Blackness | Noir oublié

Edward Mitchell Bannister was a Black Canadian American artist whose pastoral landscapes and seascapes made him a well-known painter in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Born in Saint Andrews, NB, Bannister spent the early part of his career in Boston before moving to Providence, RI, where he was a leading artist and abolitionist for thirty years. Bannister won first prize at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia for his painting Under the Oaks, making him the first African American to win a major American art prize. Despite his success, Bannister often struggled to achieve commissions. While he is increasingly revered in the United States, he has remained largely unknown in Canada — until now. Edward Mitchell Bannister: Hidden Blackness | Noir oublié is the first publication in over thirty years about this groundbreaking Black artist and abolitionist. It features archival images and reproductions of sixteen works by Bannister, many drawn from the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Essays explore Bannister’s life and work, the historical context of Black history in the Maritimes and New England in the 19th century, and the recent discovery that Bannister painted over his work to obscure the Black figures. Peintre accompli, Edward Mitchell Bannister est réputé pour ses marines et ses paysages champêtres. Né à Saint Andrews, au Nouveau-Brunswick, cet artiste du XIXe siècle s’installe en Nouvelle-Angleterre dès sa jeunesse, où il s’investit dans un mouvement abolitionniste de Boston. Son tableau intitulé Under the Oaks [Sous les chênes] lui vaut le premier prix de la Centennial Exposition de Philadelphie, en 1876, et fait de lui le premier Afro-Américain d’origine canadienne à remporter l’un des plus prestigieux prix artistiques des États-Unis. C’est aussi l’un des membres fondateurs de la Rhode Island School of Design. Malgré tout, Bannister reste largement inconnu au Canada. Premier ouvrage publié au Canada sur cet abolitionniste et