Smithsonian’s Inaugural Gift

Robert S. Duncanson, “Landscape with Rainbow,” 1859.

 Reminiscent of the Hudson River Valley School movement, Landscape with Rainbow was made in 1859 by a Black abolitionist painter named Robert S. Duncanson. Although the artist's name is fairly unknown today (outside of Ohio), Duncanson was one of the most accomplished Black artists in the U.S. in the mid-1800s. In fact, SAAM describes him as “America’s best known African American painter in the years surrounding the Civil War.” He produced numerous landscapes based on the Ohio River Valley.

 Landscape with Rainbow is characteristic of his oeuvre, depicting a young couple walking across an open, tranquil farm dotted with cows just as a rainbow frames the blue sky. 

Made during the years leading up to the Civil War, the rainbow is meant to symbolize a hope for a peaceful future—something that parallels President Biden's inaugural message and that of other speakers from the day, including poet laureate Amanda Gorman.

 via