Itinerant portrait painting Robert Seldon Duncanson had no formal art education, and thus had to
teach himself by copying
prints, copying
engravings of European works,
sketching from nature, and painting portraits.(p. 15) While Duncanson's work was accepted into the show, and was well received, it is likely that Duncanson was not allowed to take art classes at the Academy because of his race. This exhibition served as his public debut to the art world, but none of Duncanson’s family members were permitted to attend the show because of their race. His mother, while unable to attend the show, is reported to have said “I know what they look like ...I know that they are there! That’s the important thing.” Taking a short break from portrait work, Duncanson collaborated with another artist, photographer Coates. Together, on March 19, 1844, Coates and Duncanson advertised a spectacle of "Chemical Paintings...comprising four splendid views after the singular style of
Daguerre.” Portrait commissions in Detroit were forthcoming. Duncanson received his most substantial portrait commission by the Berthelet family, a prominent Detroit family. After completing
Cliff Mine, Lake Superior (1848) for Charles Avery, Duncanson pursued landscape painting in earnest. Along with two other Cincinnati artists,
T. Worthington Whittredge and
William Louis Sonntag, Duncanson became inspired by the work of the
Hudson River School artists and aspired to paint the American landscape. Together, the three artists set out on a series of sketching trips around the country to provide them with the necessary material and inspiration to bring back to their Cincinnati studios. In order to accomplish this, he turned to
Thomas Cole, copying many of his works dealing with paradise and drawing parallels between the imaginary lands painted and America. In 1851, Duncanson's created one more well-known landscape paintings from this time period,
Blue Hole, Flood Waters, Miami River. In 1853, Duncanson embarked on the traditional "grand tour" of Europe, completed by many contemporary artists, which exposed him to the art world and provided inspiration for many of his future landscape works. In 1861, Duncanson created his "greatest work":
Land of the Lotus Eaters.
Abolitionist patronage Duncanson's success as an artist is partially attributed to the many abolitionist patrons who supported him. Additionally, abolitionists would often commission works with overtly racial themes in order to further the antislavery cause.
Uncle Tom and Little Eva, 1853 Robert Duncanson’s
Uncle Tom and Little Eva, painted in 1853, is housed at the
Detroit Institute of Arts. Many abolitionists would commission works that explicitly portrayed the contemporary racial issues. Some art historians, such as Joseph D. Ketner, believe that Duncanson intended to make an indictment of the institution of slavery by depicting this delicate yet profound scene from Stowe's ''Uncle Tom's Cabin
. The Canadians thought of Duncanson as one of "the earliest of our professional cultivators of the fine arts." In 1865, he left Canada for the United Kingdom, particularly England and Scotland, to tour one of his most well-known works, The Land of the Lotus Eaters'' (1861). In Europe, his work was well received and the prestigious London Art Journal declared him a master of landscape painting. In the winter of 1866–1867, Duncanson returned to Cincinnati. Inspired by his European travels, he painted many scenes of the Scottish landscape. Duncanson's time in Canada and the United Kingdom allowed him to gain even greater recognition in the international art scene.
''Ellen's Isle, Loch Katrine'', 1871 This painting was inspired by a selection from Scottish writer
Sir Walter Scott's 1810 poem,
The Lady of the Lake. The narrative poem was important to several important contemporary African American leaders, such as
W.E.B. Du Bois and
Frederick Douglass. Art historian Joseph D. Ketner considers ''Ellen's Isle, Loch Katrine'' to be the "pinnacle of [Duncanson's] aesthetic and technical accomplishments." The work shows Duncanson's use of the conventions of Hudson River School artists, as well as his own romantic vision for landscape painting.
Final years Throughout his career, Duncanson's works had always tended toward the
pastoral, and his late works continued to show his love of landscape painting and resonated calmness and serenity.(p. 157) In the final years of his life, Duncanson developed
dementia, possibly from
lead poisoning. The dementia, and possibly
schizophrenia, caused Duncanson to act unpredictably and erratically. He developed a belief in
spiritualism and was convinced that he was possessed by a master painter. While Duncanson continued to create artwork, his behavior and declining physical health was alarming to his patrons. In 1872, Duncanson suffered a seizure while setting up an exhibition in Detroit, which eventually led to his death. Duncanson died on December 21, 1872; he was 51 years old. He was buried at the
Woodland Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan. ==Legacy==