Fireside Chat-The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution

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Wednesday, June 11th, 2025  at 7 PM ET

Virtual Event | Free

Please join us for our June Fireside Chat to discuss Zara Anishanslin’s highly anticipated new book: The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2025).

The Painter’s Fire explores an untold story of the American Revolution from the perspective of the artists who dared to defy the British Monarchy. Artists Robert Edge Pine, Prince Demah, and Patience Wright all played an integral role in forging revolutionary ideals on both sides of the Atlantic. From London to Boston, from Jamaica to Paris, from Bath to Philadelphia, these largely forgotten patriots boldly risked their reputations and their lives to declare independence.

Zara Anishanslin is the Associate Professor of History and Art History at the University of Delaware and Director of the American Civilization Program. Professor Anishanslin specializes in Early American and Atlantic World History, with a focus on eighteenth-century material culture. Her first book, Portrait of a Woman in Silk: Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World (Yale University Press, 2016) was the Inaugural Winner of The Library Company of Philadelphia’s Biennial Book Prize in 2018. Anishanslin is currently a fellow at the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, where she completed work on her forthcoming book, The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists who Championed the American Revolution (Harvard University Press, July 2025).

Hosted by the Program of Early American Economy and Society