Edward Mitchell Bannister

Bannister, a founder of the Providence Art Club, became the first African American artist to win a major national award when he received a medal at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Critics described his winning landscape as a “simple composition, quiet in tone but with strong oppositions”-characteristics that apply to this portrait of his wife.

Professionally known as Madame Carteaux, Mrs. Bannister was a Rhode Islander of African American and Narragansett descent. She was a successful hairdresser and entrepreneur, active in both artistic and abolitionist circles. In 1864, she organized an important fundraising fair to benefit the African American cavalry regiments of Massachusetts.