John Edward Bannon (1932 - 2017)

Machine (Untitled), c. 1950s, oil on Masonite, signed lower right, 30 x 18 inches, provenance includes Arnold Finkel Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (stamp verso), presented in its original frame

$3750

John Edward Bannon was a Maryland-based painter who was well known for portraiture and still lifes, such as Machine (Untitled). Painted at a time when the artworld was dominated Abstract Expressionism, Bannon continued to explore an uncanny other world of the Magic Realists. Like Walter Tandy Murch from a generation older, Bannon selected isolated machine parts as worthy subject matter for this work. Standing like totems in a barren landscape, the machines are mimetically represented, but taken out of context and stripped of their function.

After graduating high school in his native Baltimore area, Bannon attended the Maryland Institute of Art for three years, before entering into a Catholic monastery. He stayed for only ten months before returning to the Institute to complete his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and winning the Henry Walters’ Award for his graduating class. Bannon then earned a Master in Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He relocated to his hometown of Baltimore where he opened an art studio on East Mulberry Street and became a commercial success. He exhibited in more than 25 galleries, including Philadelphia's Arnold Finkel Gallery, where the present works was shown, and was honored with over 36 solo exhibits throughout his career. Highlights included representation in exhibitions at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He also won commissions to paint portraits, including from the US Army for a painting of General George C. Marshall and the Archdiocese of Baltimore for a painting of Pope John Paul XXIII, as well as many distinguished judges and members of Congress. In later years, Bannon spent his career as an art professor at Northern Virginia Community College. He continued to produce artwork and teach privately at his home studio well into his retirement. Bannon is listed in Who Was Who in American Art and other standard references.