Artist:

Robert S. Duncanson, born Seneca County, NY 1821/22-died Detroit, MI 1872  Search this

Medium:

oil on canvas

Dimensions:

32 1/4 x 48 in. (81.9 x 121.9 cm.)

Type:

Painting

Date:

1857

Gallery Label:

A group of Cincinnati abolitionists recognized the talent of African American artist Robert Duncanson, bought his works, and sponsored his trips to Europe. These trips honed the artist's technique and gave him a chance to compare his work with the masters. His pastoral landscapes appear traditional, but may quietly evoke the most divisive issue America faced at mid-century. Tiny figures stand on the far banks of the river, and beyond them lies a dreamlike landscape of mountains and farms. This might represent the promised land of freedom that escaped slaves in the 1850s hoped to reach by swimming across the Ohio River to the free states of the North.Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Topic:

Figure group  Search this

Landscape\river  Search this

Landscape\mountain  Search this

Animal\sheep  Search this

Landscape\valley  Search this

Animal\cattle  Search this

Animal\cattle  Search this

Architecture Exterior\domestic\house  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Melvin and H. Alan Frank from the Frank Family Collection

Object number:

1983.104.1

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Painting and Sculpture

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7947153d6-bea3-45b5-a320-a16e053da019

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_1983.104.1