Seaweed Gatherers

Edward Mitchell Bannister, Seaweed Gatherers, 1898?, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Alan and Melvin Frank, 1983.95.149
Copied Edward Mitchell Bannister, Seaweed Gatherers, 1898?, oil on canvas, 25 7⁄8 x 19 7⁄8 in. (65.7 x 50.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Alan and Melvin Frank, 1983.95.149
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Artwork Details

Title
Seaweed Gatherers
Artist
Date
1898?
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
25 7⁄8 x 19 7⁄8 in. (65.7 x 50.6 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of H. Alan and Melvin Frank
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — tool — wagon
  • Object — tool — rake
  • Object — foliage — seaweed
  • Figure group — male — full length
  • Landscape — coast
  • Occupation — farm — harvesting
Object Number
1983.95.149
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.95.149

Artwork Description

This scene of a worker pushing his wheelbarrow is similar to the paintings of French artist Jean-François Millet, whose landscapes celebrated rural scenes and the nobility of peasant life. Edward Bannister praised Millet as “the profoundest, most sympathetic, and deeply religious artistic spirit of our time.” (Hartigan, Sharing Traditions, 1985). Millet’s scenes of peasant life commented on industrialization by showing hardworking country folk, who embodied the moral values that were swiftly fading from urban centers. In Seaweed Gatherers, Bannister positioned his worker in the center of the composition so that he and his cart take on monumental proportions, heightening the viewer’s identification with him.