Arcadópolis
Landscape with Rainbow
Robert S. Duncanson, 1859
What you see
A tall, leafy tree holds the left side, beside a rocky stream. Beyond it a broad valley opens out, where cows graze and two small figures, one in red, walk with a dog. A lake gleams among trees in the distance. On the right, the rainbow drops almost straight down onto a wooded hill.
The lavender-blue sky fills more than half the canvas, with soft clouds and a golden glow along the horizon. The light is low and warm. Follow the rainbow down to where it dissolves into mist above the trees, and look for the strip of sunlit yellow grass at the bottom of the picture.
About Robert S. Duncanson
Robert Duncanson was born free in New York State and built his career in Cincinnati, becoming the best-known African American painter in the United States around the time of the Civil War. Backed by abolitionist patrons, he painted serene landscapes in the manner of the Hudson River School, travelled to Italy and Scotland, and spent part of the war in Canada. He was one of the first African American artists to win international acclaim, and in 2021 his “Landscape with Rainbow” was displayed at the Capitol for the presidential inauguration.
More by Robert S. Duncanson
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