Young America Opens in Columbus, Ohio
Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum opens today at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio. Robert Scott Duncanson, an artist featured in this exhibition, grew up in the border slave state of Ohio, the child of African American parents. He was fortunate enough to be supported by an abolitionist organization called the Freedman's Aid Society, whose financial stability allowed him to study painting in Scotland for three years. Duncanson is known for his beautiful, idealistic paintings of Western landscapes, like this one of Waterfall on Mont-Morency.
Robert Scott Duncanson has a unique position in art history as the first African American painter who was not only able to earn a living from the sale of his paintings, but was also the first African American artist to gain an international reputation. Landscape painting was very popular in the nineteenth century, and Duncanson was considered one of the best.
Young America will be on view in Columbus through April 15, 2001.
Pictured: Robert S. Duncanson, 1821/1822–72, Waterfall on Mont-Morency, 1864, oil, 18 x 27 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Norbert Fleisig.
Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum opens today at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio. Robert Scott Duncanson, an artist featured in this exhibition, grew up in the border slave state of Ohio, the child of African American parents. He was fortunate enough to be supported by an abolitionist organization called the Freedman's Aid Society, whose financial stability allowed him to study painting in Scotland for three years. Duncanson is known for his beautiful, idealistic paintings of Western landscapes, like this one of Waterfall on Mont-Morency.