A Big Hand for the Smallest State


Newport Scene On this day in 1776, Rhode Island declared its independence from Great Britain.

Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to break governmental ties with England. The General Assembly's declaration created the first free republic in the New World.

Savor these seascapes of Rhode Island, painted by Edward Mitchell Bannister, from the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection.

Bannister moved to Providence in 1870 or 1871 and for thirty years remained a highly respected member of that city's artistic community.


Landscape near Newport, R.I. Pictured top: Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828 Canada–1901 USA, Newport Scene, n.d., watercolor and pencil on paper mounted on paperboard, sheet: 13 1/8 x 19 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Louis Glaser.

Pictured bottom: Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828 Canada–1901 USA, Landscape near Newport, R.I., about 1877–78, oil, 12 1/8 x 26 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Ronald E. Deal.