Portraits Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PA.110 |
Title |
John Banister |
Artist |
Stuart, Gilbert, 1755-1828 |
Date |
1775 circa |
Description |
John Banister (c.1744-1807), a merchant of Newport, Rhode Island, was born in that town on February 1, 1744, a son of John and Hermione Pelham Banister, and a grandson of Thomas Banister of Boston. He attended Harvard College where he received an A. M. degree in 1764. His merchant father John Banister (1707-1767) left him and his brother Thomas Banister a very large estate, including a house in Newport, two farms in Middletown, the Old Stone Mill, Banister’s Wharf, land in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and a plantation in North Carolina. On September 29, 1768 he married his cousin Christian Stelle in Trinity Church. Banister's houses were occupied by British officers during the Revolutionary War, although he managed to remain in town during the occupation. In 1789 and 1793, Banister served as a Justice of the Peace for Newport, although his interests lay more with the Redwood Library, where he was a member. From 1794 to 1802 he lived sometimes at his home in South Kingston, but he returned to Newport where he died on November 10, 1807, leaving a large estate. Portrait. Shown three-quarters, standing three-quarters to the right, with his blue eyes directed to the spectator. His dark hair is tied in a queue bow and his complexion is ruddy. He wears a dark red velvet coat with gold trimmings, with buttons to match, a white neckcloth with white ruffled shirt showing through the partially unbuttoned waistcoat. Ruffles are also seen at the wrists. His right hand is almost entirely thrust into a pocket of the waistcoat, while his left hand is grasping the bossom of his shirt. The background, which shows a panel or wall, is in tones of gray and graish green. (Park 1:126-7) |
Object Name |
Painting |
Medium |
Oil Paint |
Material |
Canvas |
Dimensions |
H-91.4 W-76.2 cm |
Credit line |
Gift of David Melville [or bequest?] |
Provenance |
<1859 - Gift/Bequest of David Melville |
Collection |
Painting |
People |
Melville, David Stuart, Gilbert, 1755-1828 Bannister, John, circa 1744-1807 |
Notes |
Formerly #22 (#36 on 1859 list). This painting is a companion to Stuart's portrait of Mrs. Banister in the Redwood collections, #26. Returned from extended loan to the Newport Art Museum on 29 March 1996. 1943 (17 Feb -31 March) Worcester Art Museum "New England Painting, 1700-1775"; 1953 Preservation Society of Newport County, Hunter House; 1967 (1 July-20Aug) National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; (9 Sept-15 Oct) Rhode Island School of Design, Museum of Art, Providence; (1 Nov-3 Dec) Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts: "Gilbert Stuart: Portraitist of the Young Republic"; 1969-70 (Oct-May ) Wichita Art Museum traveling exhibition "American Paintings from Newport": Wilmington, Delaware; San Francisco, California; Wichita, Kansas; Cincinnati, Ohio; 1992 (4 July-13 Sept) Newport Art Museum "NewPortraits";2005 (Oct 18, '04 - Jan 16, '05) "Gilbert Stuart" Metropolitan Museum of Art; 2005 (March 27 - July 31) "Gilbert Stuart" |
Related Publications |
Park (1:126) ; 1926 Park 3 (32); "Gilbert Stuart: Portraitist of the Young Republic" by Richardson (39); "American Paintings from Newport" by Boyle (53); 1972 "Biogrphical Sketches of those who attended Harvard College" by Clifford Shipton, Massachusetts Historical Society,13-14 |