January 27, 2021

Robert S. Duncanson, Landscape with Rainbow (1859). Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. 

A painting by the famous Civil War–era Black artist Robert S. Duncanson was chosen by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Senator Roy Blunt for the gift-giving ceremony at the U.S. Capitol rotunda. The 1859 work, titled Landscape With Rainbow, was painted by Duncanson two years before the onset of the Civil War, and depicts a pastoral scene sparsely populated with cows and people, with a rainbow above that symbolizes renewal and hope. The work is described as a “pastoral landscape” in which a young couple strolls through fertile pastureland, toward a house at the end of a rainbow. Golden light illuminates a carefully organized Arcadian landscape at the end of the day. Hills, trees and a shimmering lake are laid out in a subtly dynamic diagonal grid. A luminous, blue sky caps and almost dominates the peaceful rural scene below. “Landscape With Rainbow” carries with an unmistakable ray of hope: Rainbows typically appear after a storm has passed, not before. 

Duncanson was born in Cincinnati and was considered the “best known African American painter in the years surrounding the Civil War,” according to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which owns the work. The artist was known, among other things, for his abolitionist political views, which often figured in his landscapes in metaphorical ways. Many of his paintings envision peaceful vistas that could be seen as alternate visions of a conflict-free country.

“The gifts represent the hope and the faith the American people have placed in you to move our country forward,” the Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said.