American Art Collaborative

Robert Duncanson painted this scene of Scotland's Loch Long after traveling to Scotland and Great Britain in 1865. His use of panoramic views emphasized nature’s vastness and quiet splendor, much like the artists of the Hudson River school, whose landscapes were influenced by Romanticism. Duncanson was one of the few nineteenth-century African American artists to receive international recognition. Because of the great restraints on African American artists at the time, Duncanson traveled to Europe, where his landscapes enjoyed considerable success. The idealized landscape in Loch Long, romantic and serene, may convey the artist's desire for harmony and an America free of racial oppression.