Untitled (cattle near river with sailboat in distance)

Edward Mitchell Bannister, Untitled (cattle near river with sailboat in distance), n.d., oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Alan and Melvin Frank, 1983.95.98
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Edward Mitchell Bannister was greatly influenced by the French Barbizon school, whose serene depiction of nature and idealized pastoral subjects appealed to his belief in the underlying harmony of all creation. Bannister preferred painting the play of light and the effects of weather on the natural world, often using muted colors and soft depictions of light and shadow. In this untitled work, the dark cluster of trees contrasts with the light-colored clouds, the cows with the bright flock of sheep and river. But within Bannister’s balanced, harmonious composition the lively brushstrokes of the leaves suggest a restless breeze that animates the overcast scene.

“Very few persons trouble themselves about […] reading the great three-leaved book of nature—of land, and sky, and water—as the artist reads it, reverently and lovingly, noting all the varying moods of the elements.” The artist, quoted in “The Artist and His Critics,” The Ann-Eliza Club, Providence, RI. April 15, 1886

Title

Untitled (cattle near river with sailboat in distance)

Artist

Edward Mitchell Bannister

Date

n.d.

Location

Not on view

Dimensions