Arcadópolis
Mount Healthy, Ohio
Robert S. Duncanson, 1844
What you see
The white house, with its columned porch, crowns a rise just right of center, lit up among dark trees. A path climbs toward it, and two small figures stand near the entrance. Lower down, a pale fence curves across the meadow, and beside it a figure seems to be moving to the right.
The lower half is very dark, in near-black greens, and the light gathers on the house and the lawn around it. The gray-blue sky breaks into clouds with golden edges. Look for the red flowers scattered over the slope, and a slender white spire peeking out to the right of the house.
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
The Arcadópolis Museum has 443 public-domain works in 40 rooms, free to explore in 3D in your browser.