Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009514View of Lake Pepin, Minnesota
About the Artwork
Duncanson was the first African American painter to achieve recognition at home and abroad. Although most of his career was spent in Cincinnati, he painted this calm, panoramic scene during a journey up the Mississippi River to Canada, which he likely made to escape the upheaval of the Civil War. Duncanson worked in Montreal and London, England, before returning home after the war.
Inscriptions
Signed lower left: R.S.D. / 1862; signed on verso: Valley of Lake Pepin/Minnesota/Painted By R.S.D.
Provenance
-1945: Eric Lundberg, Tuttle's Book Shop, Rutland, VT, 1945, sold to William Macbeth 1945-1947: (William Macbeth, Inc., New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1947-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Painters of Ohio's Past. Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (organizer) (June 5-July 5, 1953); Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH (July 17-August 16, 1953); Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (September 1-22, 1953); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (October 4-26, 1953). American Negro Artists of the 19th Century. Howard University, Washington, D.C., DC (organizer) (February 1-March 25, 1967). XIXth Century Afro-American Artists, Bannister and Duncanson. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (organizer) (January 9-February 6, 1972); The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (March 15-April 30, 1972).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Robert S. Duncanson (American, 1821–1872)
- Date
- 1862
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 38.5 x 63 x 6.5 cm (15 3/16 x 24 13/16 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 30.2 x 54.5 cm (11 7/8 x 21 7/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of William Macbeth
- Accession no.
- 1947.198
More by Robert S. Duncanson in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009514
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