ARTNOIR'S AFRICAN AMERICAN ART HISTORY 101
DUNCANSON, ROBERT SCOTT (1821-1872).
"Love is my principle, order is the basis, and progress is the end" (1871)
James A. Porter wrote to James Dallas Park in 1949 "I think that Duncanson must have produced a great deal; and to judge by the way his paintings stand up in comparison with romantic-naturalistic works of Cole, Durand, Bierdstadt and others I do think that he was one of the best of the Early American landscape painters."
Porter wrote "Duncanson was one of the youthful artists who, prior to the Civil War, received help from the Anti-Slavery League." His opportunity to study abroad was supported by the League. He was largely a self-taught painter. His artworks were first noticed around 1841 in Cincinnati. In 1842, he executed The Trial of Shakespeare while working as an asistant in a daguerreotype studio at 28 West Fourth Street in Cincinnati, the same address at which James P. Ball, the Black daguerreotypist, had his fashionable establishment. Probably, Ball was Duncanson's mentor.
In 1848, Nicholas Longworth selected Duncanson to paint murals in his home in 'Belmont' (The Taft Museum). The murals are mainly landscape in nature, with little use of the human figure. Each of the six large panels is enclosed in a painted rococo frame. They represent some of Duncanson's best work and reflect the enthusiasm engendered in him by his European trip. Longworth, in a letter to Hiram Powers, the well-known sculptor, described Duncanson as "one of our most promising painters...he is a man of great industry and worth..."
Between 1846 and 1853 Duncanson was very productive. He became well-known for his neo-classical landscapes. One of which is entitled Land of the Lotus Eaters inspired by Lord Tennyson's poem. The Detroit Tribune December 26, 1872 refers to Duncanson was "an artist of rare accomplishments".
Porter wrote to James D. parks in 1949 "...that [Duncanson] was one of the best of the Early American landscape painters."
Pompei
RETURN TO:
AFRO-ART HISTORY 101......................................3
Please use our Request Form to receive information regarding other works of art.
Return to: 
THIS PAGE HAS BEEN ACCESSED 
TIMES.
ALL WEB PAGES DESIGNED, 
AND COPYRIGHTED BY
CONI PORTER UZELAC,
WESPORT FOUNDATION & GALLERY.