Robert S. Duncanson | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait of Duncanson. | |
| Born | Robert Seldon Duncanson c. 1821 Fayette, New York, United States |
| Died | December 21, 1872 (aged 50–51) Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Education | Self-teaching |
| Known for | Landscape painting |
| Notable work | Landscape with Rainbow (1859) |
| Movement | Hudson River School Ohio River Valley |
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] while others, like Margaret Rose Vendryes, discourage viewers from approaching his art with a racialized perspective.[5]
- ^ "Duncanson, Robert Seldon". Getty Union List of Artist Names. The J. Paul Getty Trust. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Ketnerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Patton, Sharon (1998). African-American Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Ketner II, Joseph D. “‘Struggles May and Great’: James P. Ball, Robert Duncanson, and Other Artists of Color in Antebellum Cincinnati.” Magazine Antiques 178, no. 6 (November 2011): 108–15.
- ^ Vendryes, Margaret (2001). "Race Identity/Identifying Race: Robert S. Duncanson and Nineteenth-Century American Painting". Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies. 27 (1): 82–104. doi:10.2307/4102840. JSTOR 4102840.