Robert Duncanson
Robert Duncanson was the first recorded African American landscape painter and was associated with the Hudson River School. He settled in Montreal from 1863 to 1865 after fleeing the United States during the American Civil War. His trip to Canada was motivated by his increasing unhappiness in the United States and a supposed desire to leave. Duncanson's delicate rendering of light conveys a sublime stillness and reflection, characteristic of his early Canadian subject matter. His style would influence many Canadian painters, including his student, Allan Edson.
Tragically, mental illness ended the artist’s career and life, a circumstance perhaps attributable as much to long-term lead poisoning as to the social and personal pressures of his interracial heritage. Ultimately, however, the psychological difficulties that he suffered do not diminish his ambitions and accomplishments as a photographer, muralist, and painter.
P.S. Another masterpiece by Robert Duncanson, Landscape with Rainbow, was featured during the last United States Presidential Inauguration. Check out the story of the painting here.