Sometime around 1890, Bannister sold the "Fanchon" to Judge George Newman Bliss. His largest exhibition of works was held in 1891, when he showed 33 works at the Spring Providence Art Club Exhibition. Later in the 1890s, Bannister seems to have sold fewer paintings, perhaps due to waning popularity, and exhibited less often. In 1898, Bannister closed his studio and the couple moved to Boston for a year before returning to a smaller home in Providence on Wilson Street in 1900.