The 1885 painting, “Moonlight Marine,” is an oil on canvas. Dr. Sylvia Yount, VMFA’s Louise B. and J. Harwood Cochrane Curator of American Art, calls it “an exceptional example of the painter’s bolder, mature style.”
Painting and the sea form the twin poles of Bannister’s life, Yount says. In his younger days, he focused on pastoral landscapes, but his later marine subjects – views of the Atlantic and the Rhode Island coastline – demonstrate a more experimental vision and a dramatic touch. He was a native of St. Andrews, a small Canadian seaport. Barred from formal training by his race, he nevertheless pursued a painting career and subsequently became one of the earliest members of the Rhode Island School of Design faculty.
The Bannister work measures 22 x 30 inches and was acquired through VMFA’s J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art.
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