The war that we now call the American Revolution was not only fought in the colonies by soldiers with muskets and bayonets. On both sides of the Atlantic, artists also played an integral role in forging revolutionary ideals. Discover the inspiring stories and intertwined lives of three of these largely forgotten Patriot artists: Robert Edge Pine, Prince Demah, and Patience Wright. They defied the British monarchy, armed with paint, canvas, wax, and espionage while risking their lives and reputations to support the cause of liberty.

Zara Anishanslin is Associate Professor of History and Art History at the University of Delaware, where she also is Director of its Museum Studies and Public Engagement Program. Her award-winning first book, Portrait of a Woman in Silk: Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World, was published by Yale University Press in 2016. For her new book, The Painter’s Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution, she’s been a Mount Vernon Georgian Papers Fellow at the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, a Davis Center Fellow in Princeton’s History Department, a Mellon/ACLS Scholars & Society Fellow with the Museum of the American Revolution, and a Fellow at the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society. An avid public historian, she often works with museums on exhibitions, including the reinstallation of the Early American Wing at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This public program is made possible by federal Library Service and Technology Act funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which enable the New York State Library to champion lifelong learning.