Image: the only known image of Edward Bannister's masterpiece "Under the Oaks." (Courtesy of Michael McGuigan)

An Art History Mystery Right Here in Springfield

April 22, 2024
History, Local Connections, Art

Where is ‘Under the Oaks’? Masterpiece painting tracked to Springfield after missing for 100 years, then trail goes cold

Published on Masslive.com Apr. 21, 2024, 5:30 a.m.
By Jeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com

In 1876 a New England painter became the first known Black artist to win a national award for his landscape. It then went missing for 100 years.

That was until four art enthusiasts tracked the painting by Edward M. Bannister to Springfield, where it is believed to have hung in a boardroom of the MacDuffie School for decades.

“We were ready to celebrate,” said Michael McGuigan, one of the four experts. Then they learned the school in the Six Corners neighborhood, was sold, damaged by a tornado and further wrecked by a hurricane, all in a three-month period in 2011.

So, the champagne remains corked since the masterpiece “Under the Oaks,” is still missing.

Read the Article on Masslive

Image: the only known image of Edward Bannister’s masterpiece Under the Oaks. (Courtesy of Michael McGuigan)