John Nelson Arnold believed that Edward Bannister’s artistic legacy would endure. He observed that Bannister approached nature with a poet’s sensibility, capturing skies, rocks, trees, and distances on canvas with both vigor and poetic beauty. Arnold predicted that over time, Bannister would be recognized as one of the leading American painters. In a time when American painting lagged behind European art, Arnold couldn’t foresee the eventual rise of the uniquely American Hudson River School, which celebrated the nation’s untamed wilderness and vast landscapes. Despite witnessing the Civil War and the end of slavery and seeing his Black friend gain national recognition, Arnold couldn’t predict that persistent racial prejudice would lead to Bannister’s omission from 19th-century American landscape painting histories. The Whole Art Nebula Merch: https://www.thewholeartnebulamerch.com/ Source: · Bearden, Romare and Henderson, Harry (1993). “A History of African-American Artists: From 1792 to the Present,” Pantheon · Town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, Heritage Arts & Culture: https://www.townofsaintandrews.ca/community/heritage-arts-culture/ · Lowell Institute: https://lowellinstitute.org/about/ · “A Look Back at John Brown,” Finkleman, Paul, Prologue Magazine, Spring 2011, Vol. 43, No. 1, National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2011/spring/brown.html · “Biography: John Brown,” American Battlefield Trust, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/john-brown · “WILLIAM WELLS BROWN (CA. 1814-1884),” Engledew, Devin, Mar. 08, 2007, Blackpast, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/brown-william-wells-1814-1884/ · Studio Building (Boston, Massachusetts): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Building_(Boston,_Massachusetts) · The Barbizon School: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/barbizon-school/ · Goddard Memorial State Park: https://riparks.ri.gov/History-HistoryGoddard · George William Whitaker: https://riheritagehalloffame.com/George-Whitaker/ · CPI Inflation Calculator: https://www.in2013dollars.com/ · Eimerich Rein: https://www.askart.com/artist/eimerich_johan_rein/117717/eimerich_johan_rein.aspx?alert=info · George Inness: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/inne/hd_inne.htm
