Approaching Storm

Approaching Storm

This painting operates on both an aesthetic and a symbolic level. On the surface, Approaching Storm is a technical study of shifting weather, featuring Bannister’s characteristic atmospheric depth. But within the context of Black art history, the painting can also be read as a metaphor for the precarious position of Black creatives in the late nineteenth century. Bannister worked in an era shaped by Reconstruction’s collapse, rising segregationist politics, and an art world shaped by white gatekeepers. The turbulent sky and dark foreground evoke the uncertainty of his generation. The storm is the visual metaphor for racialized pressures Bannister navigated as a creative. In this way, Approaching Storm is both a landscape and a commentary, revealing Bannister’s ability to encode broader social tensions within quiet natural scenes.

Edward Mitchell Bannister

Bannister, Edward Mitchell. Approaching Storm. 1886. Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC. Object no. 1959.1.45.

Smithsonian American Art Museum

1886

Public domain. Image and data courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

1959.1.45

Oil on canvas

18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61.0 cm)