Robert Scott Duncanson

Robert S. Duncanson painted wide, peaceful landscapes in the manner of the Hudson River School: glowing skies, calm lakes, ruins and small figures in idealised valleys. He was the first African American artist to gain an international reputation.

He was born in Fayette, New York, around 1821 and made his career in Cincinnati. Around 1850 the collector Nicholas Longworth commissioned him to paint eight large landscape murals for his house, now the Taft Museum of Art, and they are among the finest American domestic murals of the time. His Land of the Lotus Eaters of 1861 was his best known painting. He travelled in Europe from 1853, spent time in Canada and painted Scottish landscapes.

A Dream of Italy and Italianate Landscape show his ideal, golden world. Look at the soft light and the careful balance of trees, water and sky. He died in Detroit in 1872.