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Boat on Sea
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The sea was a favorite subject for Edward Mitchell Bannister, who had worked as a cook on a trading ship. In this peaceful view of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, a popular subject for nineteenth-century American artists, he focused attention on the brilliant coastal light. Bannister was a deeply religious man who shared with many Americans of his time a belief that nature was an expression of God’s presence. In this scene the radiant light illuminates the bay to suggest a divine blessing. (Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection, 1998)
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineBoat on Sea. n.d.. Edward Mitchell Bannister, born St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada 1828-died Providence, RI 1901. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of J. Wesley Johnson. CC0.
