Robert s duncanson landscape with rainbow

Robert s duncanson early life
Robert s duncanson family
When was robert s duncanson born

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Robert S. Duncanson, Landscape Artist

June 11th, 2021

By Mel Oles, Visitor Services and Programs Manager at Rose Hill Mansion and Johnston House

Robert S. Duncanson

When many of us think of a Hudson River School artist we think of the founder, Thomas Cole, or his most famous student, Frederick Church. The art movement, however, was more diverse than we might expect. In recent years curators and art critics have brought to light other artists. One of them is Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872). Born in Fayette, New York, Duncanson painted landscapes during the Civil War period and is considered the first African American artist to be internationally known. During his lifetime he was declared the best landscape painter in the West. The Historical Society is joining museums, cities, and civic organizations from across the country in a year-long celebration (June 1, 2021-May 31, 2022) of Duncanson’s life and achievements.

Duncanson’s childhood in Fayette is not well documented and art historians have struggled to discover more information. This is what we do know, Duncanson’

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Robert S. Duncanson

American painter

Robert Seldon Duncanson (c. 1821 – December 21, 1872) 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.^[1]^[2] Duncanson spent the majority of his career in Cincinnati, Ohio and helped develop the Ohio River Valley landscape tradition.^[2] As a free black man in antebellum America, Duncanson engaged the abolitionist community in America and England to support and promote his work.^[3] Duncanson is considered the first African-American artist to be internationally known.^[3] 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,^[4

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Robert Scott Duncanson (1821 – December 21, 1872) was born in Seneca County, New York in 1821.[1] Duncanson’s father was a Canadian of Scottish descent and his mother was an African American, thus making him “a freeborn person of color.”[2] Duncanson, an artist who is relatively unknown today, painted America, both physically and figuratively, at a time when the country was in turmoil. Beautiful and serene, Duncanson’s work sheds light on American art that has been forgotten over the years.

Background

As a young boy, Duncanson lived with his father in Canada, while his mother lived in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, a village fifteen miles (24 km) north of Cincinnati. It was not until the summer of 1841 that Duncanson left Canada for Mount Pleasant. Upon his return to his mother’s home, Duncanson said, “I’ve come back to be an artist.”[3] Yearning to do more with paint than use it on houses, as he had been doing since 1838 with his house painting and decorating venture, he moved to Cincinnati, which seemed to be the right place. Around this time period, Cincinnati was “known as the Athens