River Scene
1867–71
Robert S. Duncanson (American, 1821–1872)
United States
This autumnal landscape by Robert S. Duncanson is likely a view of the Ohio River valley, featuring passages of open brushwork and luminous reflections along the water. Amid the lush foliage at center, two figures walk along the shore while another pair readies a boat in the foreground.
A third-generation free person of color, Duncanson established himself as an artist in Cincinnati in the 1840s, garnering national and international acclaim in the following decades. Working at the border of North and South, he fled the heightened racial inequities of the US for Canada in 1861, later working in Britain. After the Civil War he returned to Cincinnati and his studio there, painting River Scene during this late moment in his career.
Oil on canvas