Robert S. Duncanson
Robert Seldon Duncanson was a 19th-century American landscapist of European and African ancestry. Inspired by famous American landscape artists like Thomas Cole, Duncanson created renowned landscape paintings and is considered a second generation Hudson River School artist. Duncanson spent the majority of his career in Cincinnati, Ohio and helped develop the Ohio River Valley landscape tradition. As a free black man in antebellum America, Duncanson engaged the abolitionist community in America and England to support and promote his work. Duncanson is considered the first African-American artist to be internationally known. He operated in the cultural circles of Cincinnati, Detroit, Montreal, and London. The primary art historical debate centered on Duncanson concerns the role that contemporary racial issues played in his work. Some art historians, like Joseph D. Ketner, believe that Duncanson used racial metaphors in his artwork, while others, like Margaret Rose Vendryes, discourage viewers from approaching his art with a racialized perspective.
Early life
Robert Seldon Duncanson was born in Fayette, New York, in about 1821. Duncanson was one of the five sons of John Dean Duncanson, a free black tradesman, and Lucy Nickles. Often, it is cited that Robert's father was Scot-Canadian; however, there is no evidence to support this claim, and it is unclear when or where the original source of the claim began. All evidence points to Robert Seldon being the descendant of freed slaves from Virginia. John Dean's father, Charles Duncanson, was a former slave from Virginia who was freed from bondage by his owner. Charles received special privileges, including his emancipation and the opportunity to learn a skilled trade, because he was likely the illegitimate son of his owner. After becoming emancipated, Charles and his son John Dean lived as freemen in Virginia. However, at the end of the eighteenth century, white opposition toward free black men grew in the Upper South. In response, Charles, his son John Dean, and his wife Lucy Nickles, like many free African Americans, moved north. The Duncanson family settled in Fayette, New York, where Robert Seldon was born. Charles' knowledge of carpentry and house painting was passed down to his son, John Dean, and his grandchildren. This knowledge would later allow Robert Seldon Duncanson to develop as an artisan and later as an artist.In 1828, the family moved to the “boomtown” of Monroe, Michigan, following the death of Charles. In Monroe, John Dean found considerable success working as a housepainter and a carpenter. This success allowed him to support his family and educate his children. During their childhood, Robert and his four brothers apprenticed in the family trades of house painting and carpentry. While Robert's brothers achieved modest success as housepainters, Robert emerged as the most talented of his siblings in his apprenticeships. In 1838, Robert established a painting business with partner John Gamblin. Robert and his partner frequently advertised their services in local publications, like the Monroe Gazette. However, in 1839, Robert suspended the business in order to pursue his ambition to work as a portrait painter.
In 1840, nineteen-year-old Duncanson left Monroe and moved to Mount Pleasant, Ohio, a town north of Cincinnati later known as Mount Healthy, to begin his career in fine arts. Duncanson lived in Mt. Healthy with the Reuben Graham family who were also descendants of Virginian slaves. The community of Mt. Healthy, like Cincinnati, had a substantial free black population. In the nineteenth century, Cincinnati was considered a southern' town on free soil”. Cincinnati was a fast-growing city—the city’s population grew from 43,000 to 115,000 between 1840 and 1850. In particular, Cincinnati attracted many freed or escape slaves in search of a new community. The city hosted one of the largest African-American communities in the U.S. Upon Duncanson’s arrival, the African-American population of the city was approximately 3,000. Many of these 3,000 African-Americans living in Cincinnati were previously enslaved. By 1870, the city had 5,900 African-American residents, with an overall population of 216,000.
Duncanson was primarily attracted to Cincinnati for its strong arts community. In the 19th century, Cincinnati was referred to as "the Athens of the West". It was also referred to as the "emporium of the West" by its free black population who had much greater access to opportunities of advancement there than in other parts of antebellum America. During the 19th century, Cincinnati and the American west became well known for its landscape artists, including William Louis Sonntag, Godfrey Frankenstein, T. Worthington Whittredge, and Duncanson himself.
Career
Itinerant portrait painting
Robert Seldon Duncanson had no formal art education, and thus had to teach himself by copying prints, copying engravings of European works, sketching from nature, and painting portraits. In the 1840s, Duncanson worked primarily as an itinerant portrait painter, like many African-American artists at the time, traveling among Cincinnati, Detroit, and Monroe, Michigan. His first datable work is from 1841—The Portrait of a Mother and Daughter. This work is similar to the style of many contemporary painters, demonstrating Duncanson's experience learning by copying others' works. In 1842, Duncanson had three portraits—Fancy Portrait, Infant Savior, a copy, and Miser—accepted to the second exhibition hosted by the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts. While Duncanson's work was accepted into the show, and was well received, it is likely that Duncanson was not allowed to take art classes at the Academy because of his race. This exhibition served as his public debut to the art world, but none of Duncanson’s family members were permitted to attend the show because of their race. His mother, while unable to attend the show, is reported to have said “I know what they look like...I know that they are there! That’s the important thing.”Taking a short break from portrait work, Duncanson collaborated with another artist, photographer Coates. Together, on March 19, 1844, Coates and Duncanson advertised a spectacle of "Chemical Paintings...comprising four splendid views after the singular style of Daguerre.” Duncanson was believed to have been the artistic mind behind the composition of the images while Coates took care of the technical side. Although Duncanson was making progress as an artist personally and publicly, the lack of commissions for his work pushed him to move around and work as an itinerant portrait painter beginning in 1845, spending the majority of his time in Detroit.
While in Detroit, Duncanson worked primarily as a portrait painter and was well received by the local press. In 1846, the Detroit Daily Advertiser praised Duncanson for his skill and color usage, adding, “Mr. Duncanson deserves, and we trust will receive the patronage of all lovers of the fine arts.” Portrait commissions in Detroit were forthcoming. Duncanson received his most substantial portrait commission by the Berthelet family, a prominent Detroit family. However, Duncanson became more interested in the genre painting tradition. He was first exposed to the tradition of genre painting through the work of fellow Cincinnati artist James H. Beard. Duncanson returned to Cincinnati in 1846, aspiring to expand his repertoire.
Landscape painting
was an important genre from the 1830s to the 1900s. Artist Thomas Cole and other members of the Hudson River School used nature to convey ideas about America and its ideals. Duncanson was intrigued by landscape painting. As he moved away from portrait work, Duncanson became intrigued by travel prints, particularly the exploration journals of John Stevens and Frederick Catherwood, Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan. The prints in these books prompted Duncanson to experiment with depicting exotic places and forgotten civilizations in his work. Back in Cincinnati and full of new inspiration, he received a commission from Charles Avery, an abolitionist Methodist minister, in 1848. Not only did Cliff Mine, Lake Superior—the work Duncanson created for Avery—bolster his career as a landscape painter, it also established him within a network of abolitionist patrons who sustained most of his career.After completing Cliff Mine, Lake Superior for Charles Avery, Duncanson pursued landscape painting in earnest. Along with two other Cincinnati artists, T. Worthington Whittredge and William Louis Sonntag, Duncanson became inspired by the work of the Hudson River School artists and aspired to paint the American landscape. Together, the three artists set out on a series of sketching trips around the country to provide them with the necessary material and inspiration to bring back to their Cincinnati studios. After finishing the sketching tours, Duncanson focused on the Ohio River Valley in the early 1850s. With his ambitions cast on landscape work, operating on the style of the Hudson River School, Duncanson strived to transform his topographical works into romantic landscapes with literary allusions In order to accomplish this, he turned to Thomas Cole, copying many of his works dealing with paradise and drawing parallels between the imaginary lands painted and America. Around 1850, Duncanson was given his largest commission of his career by Nicholas Longworth to paint 8 landscape panels in Longworth's Cincinnati estate Belmont.The panels have been called the regarded as "among the most accomplished domestic mural paintings of pre-Civil War America." In 1851, Duncanson's created one more well-known landscape paintings from this time period, Blue Hole, Flood Waters, Miami River. In 1853, Duncanson embarked on the traditional "grand tour" of Europe, completed by many contemporary artists, which exposed him to the art world and provided inspiration for many of his future landscape works. In 1859, Duncanson finished his painting Landscape with Rainbow which, when exhibited, was "hailed as 'one of the most beautiful pictures painted on this side of the mountains.’" This painting was prominently shown during Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021 when he and his wife entered the U.S. Capitol.
In 1861, Duncanson created his "greatest work": Land of the Lotus Eaters. This painting was Duncanson's most widely acclaimed work. Moreover, Duncanson intended for the work to receive this tremendous acclaim. He planned to exhibit the work on a European tour before he began painting it.
Many of Duncanson's paintings, such as Land of the Lotus Eaters, were influenced by works of British Romantic poets to include mythical themes. This attraction to European poetry and novels was developed through many trips Duncanson took to Europe over a period of 20 years. These trips were funded by Cincinnati-based Abolitionist patrons like Nicholas Longworth and a local Anti-Slavery league. The opportunities provided by these "grand tours" of Europe gave Duncanson the ability to study the works of the Old Masters while exploring the historic landscapes of the European countryside. Two of the works that came out of Duncanson's trips to Europe were Italian Landscape and Italian Landscape with Ruins.