Robert Smalls — Fine Art Canvas | Burrell Archive

Born enslaved in Beaufort, South Carolina, he piloted the steamer Planter out of the harbour in 1862 and carried his family through to freedom. Robert Smalls went on to serve five terms in the United States Congress — the man who took a ship and gave his people a future. Rendered in the Burrell Archive dissolution aesthetic: the figure emerging from a nebula of ink and light, refusing to disappear.

• 1.25″ (3.18 cm) thick poly-cotton blend canvas
• Vivid, fade-resistant print
• Hand-stretched over solid wood stretcher bars
• Mounting brackets included

History, worn in light. — Burrell Archive