It is not every day that a 19th-century landscape painter is the subject of national news, but that was the case last week, when a work by Robert S. Duncanson on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum was presented to the Biden administration by Congress as an inaugural gift. Duncanson is not a household name—or, at least, not an artist as well-known as some of his contemporaries, including William Louis Sonntag and Worthington Whitteredge. (When the New York Times covered the gift, for example, it did not name Duncanson, only referring to him as a “Black artist.”) But during his day, Duncanson achieved fame, both in the U.S. and Europe, and blazed a trail for future generations of Black artists. To survey Duncanson’s achievements, below is a guide to his life and art.
In 19th-century Ohio, Duncanson’s landscapes brought him unparalleled success.
These days, Duncanson’s idyllic landscapes, filled with peaceful rivers and verdant mountains, reside in the collections of the U.S.’s top museums, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. But, as Duncanson got his start in mid-19th century Ohio, it was largely private collectors who helped secure his place in art history. Many of them were white abolitionists whose support for Black artists became a part of their political mission—and, some have argued, a way of accruing social capital.
Prior to that, Duncanson had struggled to make ends meet. His still lifes, featuring pile-ups of produce set atop unadorned tables, were the result of hard work—Duncanson had taught himself by copying prints and drawing from life. Critics took notice. When one work in the genre by Duncanson was shown at the Michigan State Fair, the Detroit Free Press sang his praises, writing, “The paintings of fruit, etc. by Duncanson are beautiful, and as they deserve, have elicited universal admiration.”
Yet Duncanson had received few major commissions until one came from Charles Avery, a Pennsylvania-based reverend who, having profited from the cotton industry, helped slaves escape the South using the Underground Railroad and became involved in abolitionist causes. In 1848, Avery commissioned Duncanson to paint a landscape, marking a turn for an artist who had generally specialized in still lifes. Titled Cliff Mine, Lake Superior and depicting what was then the top copper mine in the country, the work went on to spur Duncanson to fame.