Spring 1988

The Belmont Murals in theTaft Museum

The Belmont Murals

Joseph D. Ketncr II

The Taft Museum is the site for the mostsignificant domestic mural paintings in early American art.These monumental decorations grace the main halls of theimposing mansion which was home to some of Cincinnati'smost prominent families. The obscure history of the muralsis integrally related to the history of the house. Unique inAmerican art, the murals were the creation of America's firstAfro-American artist to earn international acclaim, RobertS. Duncanson (1821-1872). Combining his early experienceas a house painter with his love of landscape painting,Duncanson created the largest works of his career and amonument of early American decorative art.

The Taft and Longworth family traditionsclaim that Nicholas Longworth commissioned Robert S.Duncanson to decorate the halls of his home, "Belmont"(now the Taft Museum), with landscape murals around 1850.The "Belmont" murals consist of eight large landscape deco-rations in trompe-l'oeil French rococo frames (approximately9' x 7'), three over-the-door floral vignettes, and two patriot-ic eagles that grace the entrance and cross halls of Longworth'sformer home. The monumental Hudson River School stylelandscapes stand as the most accomplished domestic muralpaintings in America before the Civil War. Although theyare painted in imitation of popular wallpaper designs, themurals are unique among domestic decorations, either wall-paper or mural designs. The "Belmont" murals mark theboundaries of three traditions in early American culture:wallpaper fashions, domestic mural painting, and the fine artof landscape painting.

The works are unsigned, and no contempo-rary records of the murals exist. They are not mentioned bywriters, Longworth did not refer to them in his letters, andthe lavish descriptions of the house written for the celebra-tion of Longworth's golden wedding anniversary in 1857do not describe them.1 In her 1939 biography of NicholasLongworth, Comtesse Clara Longworth de Chambrun alludesto letters by her great-grandfather that cite the author of themurals as "the well-known decorative painter Duncanson."2

Unfortunately, these papers have been lost for the past fiftyyears. Despite the lack of contemporary documents, con-

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noisseurship has consistently attributed the works to RobertS. Duncanson.3

A second-generation artist in the Hudson Riv-er School style, Robert S. Duncanson was the first Afro-American to earn an international reputation as a landscapepainter. A self-taught artist, Duncanson initially apprenticedas a house painter. Born in 1 821 in Fayette, New York, to aninterracial family of handymen and house painters, RobertDuncanson first practiced the trade in Monroe, Michigan,where his family moved around 1832.4 For approximatelyone year Duncanson and an associate, John Gamblin, worked

Joseph D. Ketner II, curator of lished several articles including J.W. Winder. Roberts.the Washington UniversityGallery of Art and currentlyserving as the Acting Director,has been researching the workof Robert S. Duncanson forover ten years and has pub-

a forthcoming monograph onthe artist.

Duncanson, 1868, daguerreo-type. Private collection, Toledo,Ohio. Courtesy of the MonroeCounty Historical Museum,Monroe, Michigan. The Taftand Longworth family oral

history has claimed thatNicholas Longworth commis-sioned a suite of murals fromRobert S. Duncanson, the firstblack artist to earn internationalacclaim.

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Entrance Hall, Taft Museum.The "Belmont" murals in theTaft Museum are the finestdomestic mural decorations inthe antebellum Americanculture.

Spring 1988

in Monroe as painters and glaziers.5 The two disbandedaround 1840 and young Duncanson moved to Cincinnati toembark on a career as an artist. During the 1 840's he copiedprints, painted portraits and estate views, and made daguerre-otypes often traveling to Monroe and Detroit. His paintingultimately attracted the attention of Nicholas Longworth.

A major landholder and horticulturalist, Nich-olas Longworth had a reputation for sponsoring artists hefelt had both great merit and great need. In his correspon-dence to the sculptor Hiram Powers, Longworth oftenspoke about the arts in Cincinnati and on several occasionsmentioned Duncanson. In several letters Longworth remarkedthat Duncanson was "one of our most promising painters."6

Nicholas Longworth demonstrated great faith in the youngblack artist to entrust the decoration of "Belmont" to him.Duncanson had just become a landscape painter and hadnever executed anything of the scale and difficulty of themural commission. Yet, Longworth obviously believed thatDuncanson was capable of handling the project.

It is remarkable that an artist in his formativestages could execute a mural commission of this complexity.During the remainder of his career Duncanson created nosubsequent work on this scale establishing the murals as hismost ambitious achievement. In this commission Duncansonwas forced to combine his skills in interior decoration andcontemporary wallpaper fashions with landscape painting.Longworth's commission was grandiose in its decorativeintentions as well as its scale. The challenge of creating the

"Belmont" murals forced Duncanson into artistic maturityand launched his career as a landscape artist.

The sequence of landscape murals and overdoordecorations is a well-orchestrated decorative scheme. Asguests entered Longworth's home, a pair of idyllic land-scapes of continental scenery flanked the foyer. Walkingdown the front hall into the cross hall the scenes becameincreasingly more picturesque and reminiscent of the OhioRiver Valley. The style of the landscapes falls squarely withinthe Hudson River School tradition. Unlike many muralcycles, no theme or narrative seems to link the "Belmont"murals together. Although some of the murals allude to the"stream of life" or "voyage of life" theme, it is not consistent-ly conveyed throughout the decorations. The motif of ariver flowing through the stages of life was popular in Roman-tic landscape painting of the period. The idea was exempli-fied by Thomas Cole's popular series The Voyage of Life(1842, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.) whichwas in a Cincinnati collection during Duncanson's lifetime.7

The views for the "Belmont" murals seem to have beenchosen simply to entertain Longworth's appreciation forboth the European and regional landscapes. Often takingland in payment for his fees as a young attorney, Longworthamassed great tracts of land.8 Some of the scenes in themurals may allude to his lands or depict actual sites in theOhio River Valley. However, none of Duncanson's sketchesor studies survive, so it is impossible to link the murals tospecific locations.

"Belmont" murals duringrestoration 1931-1932. Trans-verse hall, northeast wall, TaftMuseum. Discovered undermany layers of wallpaper duringthe restoration of the Tafthome, the murals were in good

condition with the exception ofthe floral vignettes over thedoorway to the music room.

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Unfortunately, the "Belmont" murals are atreasure that was lost for many years and rediscovered onlyin 1930. Their hidden history is intricately intertwined withthat of the house. Begun in 1820 for the original owner,Martin Baum, the grand Federal style residence was pur-chased by Nicholas Longworth in 1829 to house his grow-ing family and estate.9 "I have bought 'Belmont' which islarge enough to contain all the Longworths in the nation."10

Twenty years passed before Longworth commissioned themural decorations for his front hallways to accompany hiscollection of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. Thehouse served the family for almost two decades. But after thechildren had grown, and Nicholas Longworth died in 18 6 3,"Belmont" was too large for the family of the eldest son,Joseph Longworth.

By the time Joseph Longworth sold the housein 1869 to David Sinton, the murals were covered withwallpaper.11 This ignominious fate occurred within Dun-canson's lifetime. In the late nineteenth century patternwallpapers from England were very popular in America. Formore than fifty years the murals were repeatedly coveredwith layers of patterned wallpaper. Only in 1927, upon thedonation of the estate to the people of Cincinnati, didcuriosity about the murals surface. At that time Mrs. CharlesPhelps Taft (David Sinton's daughter) mentioned that muraldecorations, which she had never seen, were under thewallpaper in the entrance halls. She recalled her father dis-cussing the decorations when talking about the history ofthe house.12 After receiving a construction permit in 193 1,the paper was removed to reveal an exciting rediscovery inAmerican art.

The murals were in excellent condition, hav-ing been heavily varnished and covered with several layers ofwallpaper and paste. Repairing the landscapes required onlyminor inpainting to the skies in several panels. None of theelements of the design were lost. Unfortunately, one floralvignette over the music room doorway had to be entirelyrepainted and is now the work of a restorer. Originally threevignettes decorated a much larger doorway to the room.Only portions of these vignettes remained when the wallpa-per was removed due to an earlier architectural change in thedoorways. Almost completely eradicated, the flanking vignetteswere covered with house paint during the restoration. Afterrestoration was completed, the building was opened to thepublic on November 28,1932, and the murals were receivedwith enthusiasm. A reviewer for the Cincinnati Post expressedpopular opinion when she wrote: "For many formerly famil-iar with the interior of the beautiful Taft home, the hall

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holds the biggest thrill."13 The public greeted the "Belmont"murals with astonishment at their quality, scale, and thenovelty of the decorative scheme. To appreciate this unprec-edented monument of American decorative painting, it isnecessary to view the murals in relation to domestic decora-tion, the mural tradition, and American landscape painting.

Landscapes and floral bouquets with trompePoeil frames were very popular in the mid-nineteenth centu-ry. This decorative scheme was derived from French wallpa-per designs that were abundant and available all over Ameri-ca at this time.14 For the "Belmont" murals Duncanson useda variation on the enframing motif found in Etienne Delicourt'spattern book of wallpaper designs from around 1850.15

These wallpaper frames, called "fresco papers," were used toborder a variety of wallpaper patterns, including figural,floral, and scenic papers, and were very popular in the 1840's.It is obvious in photographs of the restoration that a pedes-tal motif, similar to the wallpaper, was originally used belowthe wainscoting.

During Duncanson's time French scenic paperswere the most popular in America, but English papers werein favor earlier.16 The "Belmont" murals display influencesfrom both sources. The Stephan Van Rensselaer home, for-merly in Albany, New York (now reconstructed in the Met-ropolitan Museum of Art, New York) was decorated withEnglish wallpaper with landscape vignettes around 1768.The enframing motif bespeaks the rococo flamboyance foundin the frames of the "Belmont" murals. The English wall-paper vignettes were printed in grisaille to present the illusionof prints after paintings framed upon the wall. During themiddle of the eighteenth century it was popular to glue

Etienne Delicourt. Panel SetWallpaper Designs, c. 1850,engraving, from a pattern book.Cooper-Hewitt Museum,Smithsonian Institution/ArtResource, New York. Theframes around the "Belmont"

murals were based upon Frenchwallpaper designs such as thispanel set.

Spring 1988

engraved prints onto the wall of a room with wallpaperframes. This decoration gave the appearance of a room offramed prints and was the source of the term "print room".17

Only after 1800 did the French develop thefirst full-color, continuous landscape views in imitation ofpaintings. Through the first half of the nineteenth century,French scenic papers were the rage in interior fashion. Themost prevalent scenes were views of Italy and France; how-ever, some views of America were also available. The panora-ma populated with lively figural groups dominated the designof these scenics.18 The illusion created by the French pan-

The Belmont Murals 5 5

oramic papers was of a continuous, unframed space breakingthrough the wall. The "Belmont" murals, on the other hand,were bordered stressing the verticality of the walls and mim-icking framed paintings. This created the effect of a picturegallery with monumental landscape paintings elaboratelyframed. Although wallpaper was widely used in the nine-teenth century, much of it has not survived in restoredhomes. From what is preserved, it is known that Duncansonused none of the existing wallpapers as an exact source forhis murals.

The floral bouquets over the doorways are

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English Wallpaper, c. 1768,block printed. From the Stephanvan Rensselaer home, formerlyAlbany, New York. MetropolitanMuseum of Art; gift of Dr.Howard van Rensselaer. Lateeighteenth century wallpapers

with framed landscapes in-fluenced the design of the"Belmont" murals.

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more closely identified with French wallpaper styles. Bou-quets by designers such as Jean Zuber were intended to beincorporated into framed vertical wall panels. In Americanhouseholds this French wallpaper was often used to deco-rate fireboards.19 One design from around 1800 at OldSturbridge Village provides the general prototype for thefloral vignettes in the "Belmont" mural scheme. This floralbouquet style links directly with the fashions of early Ameri-can domestic mural painters. These floral designs were also astandard for itinerant house painters and, like the wall-papers, were usually found as overmantels and on fireboards.Rarely were they used over entranceways and doors as in the"Belmont" murals.20

Over a brief period of time Duncanson paintedother still lifes earning a reputation for his "fruit and fancypictures" in 1849 and 1850. Duncanson debuted at theWestern Art Union in 1849 with a "fruit" painting as well asa landscape subject.21 He also exhibited a still life of fruit atthe Michigan State Fair in 1849 where he won a premium.22

In addition, he earned his only entry to the American ArtUnion in 1850 with a fruit still life.23 The Detroit Free Press

admired his work: "The paintings of fruit, etc., by Duncanson,are beautiful, and as they deserve, have elicited universaladmiration."24 Six of the eight extant still life paintings byDuncanson can be dated to 1849, just prior to the "Bel-mont" commission. Yet none of Duncanson's easel paintingsresemble the floral vignettes and, therefore, were not stud-ies. His fruit still life paintings are in the style established byJames (1749-18 3 1) and Raphaelle Peale (17 74-1825) withrandom groups of fruit arranged on a tabletop. The floralvignettes were executed in the manner of interior decora-tion derived from wallpaper patterns. The easel paintingsbear little relation to the mural decoration except the subjectmatter and the time period in which they were created.

Above the arched doorways in the transversehall are two eagle vignettes that appear to be the earliest ofthe mural decorations. Their style also differs from Duncanson'seasel paintings. Duncanson's early painting the Vulture andits Prey, 1844, displays a similarly primitive understanding ofthe eagle's anatomy. This is especially obvious where theneck joins the head to the body. However, the eagle vignetteis not by the same hand as the easel painting. The blank tanbackground and the flattened volume of the eagle vignetteare. completely dissimilar to the rest of the mural scheme. Ifthe eagles were part of Duncanson's mural commission, hewould have used a background similar to the floral vignettesor a color in the tonal range of the mural scheme. The twoeagle vignettes more closely resemble the work typical of thelate eighteenth century itinerant house painters. Such imageswere popular in the decades following the RevolutionaryWar, but occurred less frequently in the mid-nineteenthcentury.25 Therefore, another artist probably painted thesevignettes at a much earlier date as part of an earlier decora-tive scheme in the cross halls.

Floral Vignette, c. 1850, oil on FloralFireboard, c. 1800,plaster, Taft Museum.

French floral bouquet wall-papers were the model for thefloral vignettes in the muralcommission.

French printed wallpapermounted on canvas. OldSturbridge Village, Sturbridge,Massachusetts. Old Sturbridgephoto by Henry E. Peach.

Robert S. Duncanson. FruitPiece, 1849, oil on canvas.Detroit Institute of Arts; gift ofthe Estates of Miss ElizabethGray Walker and Mr. HenryLyster Walker. Duncanson'seasel paintings of fruit still

life subjects were in the earlyAmerican tradition of Jamesand Raphaelle Peale.

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The "Belmont" murals are closely related tothe domestic mural painting tradition in other ways, butthey are far superior to any examples before the Civil War.Domestic mural painting in America was the domain of theitinerant painter. Advertising himself as a painter and glazier,the house painter was capable of painting a house, decorat-ing it with murals, painting a coat of arms, gilding, lettering,coach, and sign painting. If a patron wanted, he could evenhave his likeness painted. The execution of these works wasvery crude and primitive. Most artisans had apprenticed inthe house painting trade and had no fine arts training.Imitations of wallpaper were common for house paintersexecuting interior decorations.26 Duncanson's landscape muralsfor Longworth are no exception. In the "Belmont" murals

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Eagle Vignette, oil on plaster.Taft Museum.

Robert S. Duncanson. Vultureand its Prey, 1844, oil on can-vas. National Museum ofAmerican Art, Smithsonian In-stitution; gift of Harold E. Deal.

The eagle vignettes in thecross halls are unlike Dun-canson's easel paintings ofsimilar subjects and are prob-ably part of an earlierdecorative scheme.

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the levels of illusion are deep. The panels were painted asimitations of wallpaper that resembled framed paintings ona wall. It is ironic that Duncanson's murals were eventuallycovered by the wallpaper they were created to imitate.

Beginning his career as a painter and glazier in1838, Robert Duncanson was very familiar with interiordecorations and wallpaper fashions. Progressing onto easelpainting around 1840, Duncanson spent his early years as anitinerant artist moving regularly among Cincinnati, Mon-roe, and Detroit painting portraits, genre subjects, and a fewlandscapes. Although his work matured slowly in the 1840's,Duncanson's artistic ability increased dramatically in the1850's. In 1850 William Sonntag, the foremost landscapepainter west of the Appalachian Mountains, moved into astudio adjoining Duncanson's on Fourth Street in Cincinnati.27

From Sonntag Duncanson learned many painting techniques,and his works began to reflect Sonntag's style. As the exhibi-tion records for the 18 5 o's show, under Sonntag's influenceDuncanson began to specialize in landscape painting.Duncanson's ability to conceive and execute artworks ofmerit blossomed under Sonntag's example in the early 18 5 o's.During this period of increasing artistic maturity, Duncansoncreated the "Belmont" murals.

Because of his early career as a painter andglazier, Robert Duncanson was experienced in executinginterior decorations and knew how to approach this project.In several contemporary accounts Duncanson was describedas a very fast painter. One British reviewer remarked: "He isone of the most rapid painters I have met with; his largestworks have been begun and finished in ten days, perhaps notat work on them only, but on others during the same time."28

In general, it was not unusual for house decorators to workvery quickly. One itinerant house painter claimed that hecould "paint the entire walls of a parlor, with all of the severaldistances, and a variety of fancy scenery, palaces, villages,mills, vessels, &c, and, a beautiful set of shade trees on theforeground, and finish the same complete in less than fivehours."29 This was certainly an exaggeration or the fellowwas a very sloppy painter. Duncanson must have spent manymonths completing a mural project with this degree ofaccomplishment and complexity.

Painters and glaziers usually worked in teamsand, for a project of this scale, Duncanson no doubt had agroup of assistants to help him. From the letters exchangedbetween Duncanson and his friend Junius Sloan, it is proba-ble that Sloan stayed with Duncanson during the winters of1850 and 18 5 1. Sloan was an Ohio artist who was tutored byDuncanson on an informal basis for many years. During the

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1840's he, too, was an itinerant painter who had done signand house painting before becoming a portrait and land-scape artist.30 None of Sloan's surviving works resemble themurals, but his hand should not be evident in the murals.The assistants in a decorative project prepared the pigments,and only painted in the main highlights and shadows, andperhaps the frames and the vignettes. Duncanson wouldhave drawn in the designs and painted the majority of thelandscapes and detail work. The assistants may have beengiven the responsibility of copying a pattern for the floralvignettes. This might account for the differences betweenthe vignettes, the landscape murals, and Duncanson's othereasel paintings. It is likely that the vignettes are the workof an assistant, perhaps Junius Sloan, John Gamblin (Dun-canson's earlier partner), or even Duncanson's brothers whowere in the decorating business in Monroe, Michigan.

Although the "Belmont" murals are not firm-ly dated, a comparison with Duncanson's other paintingsallows us to date the mural commission to around 1850-1852.When considering the qualitative development in Ducanson'seasel paintings at this time, definite parallels in the murals

Robert S. Duncanson, Mural,c. 1850, oil on plaster. TaftMuseum. The northeast muralin the transverse hall wasprobably the first mural paintedin the decorative project.

can be established. Comparing the easel paintings to themural commission allows one to consider the sequence inwhich the artist may have executed the murals. An overviewof the murals makes it evident that, generally, the murals inthe transverse hall recall Duncanson's work of the 1840's,while the work in the entrance hall looks forward to hismore mature paintings of the 18 5 o's. In addition, the entrancehall murals are more accomplished in draftsmanship, painthandling, and composition, displaying Duncanson's enhancedunderstanding of landscape painting in the 185 o's. Thefollowing progression of the murals suggests a sequence inthe creation of the landscapes over a period of perhaps twoor three seasons between about 1850 and 1852. The muralsin the transverse hall seem to have been painted first, thenDuncanson executed the entrance hall murals later.

The more rustic murals of the cross hall resem-ble Duncanson's first landscape painted between 1848 and18 5 o in both style and technical accomplishment. Duncansonseems to have begun the "Belmont" mural commission on

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Robert S. Duncanson, Mural,c. 1850-1852, oil on plaster.

Roberts. Duncanson,Drunkard's Plight, 1845, oil onboard. Detroit Institute of Arts;gift of Miss Sarah M. Sheridan.

The northwest mural in thetransverse hall features a cabinscene that appears often inDuncanson's paintings of the1840's.

6o Queen City Heritage

the northeast side of the cross hall. The dramatic cliffside inthis mural dwarfs the two men in the middleground whogaze across an abyss to a high waterfall. The tepee in theforeground leads the eye into a wilderness scene more remotethan any of the other murals. But, the drawing of the figuresand the handling of the foliated hillside betray Duncanson'simmature early work. This panel is the weakest work in themural scheme for these reasons and must be the earliest ofthe eight. The trees in this mural are treated in the samemanner as those in the Carp River, Lake Superior painted inthe summer of 1850. This suggests that Duncanson mayhave begun the commission in the fall or winter of 18 50.

Across the hall Duncanson painted a familycabin scene nestled into a midwestern landscape. Off in thedistance is a group of buildings reminiscent of the ware-houses one found on the Cincinnati riverfront at that time.The family at the door of the cottage recalls the cabin scenein Duncanson's earlier genre subject the Drunkard's Plight(1845, Detroit Institute of Arts). Although the easel paint-ing is melodramatic in its moralizing subject, the composi-tion with a group of figures before a cabin link the twoworks. The trees and the cabin in the mural are much moresensitively rendered and imply that it was painted at a later

date than the Drunkard's Plight. The panel also confirmsDuncanson's growing awareness of the English tradition ofpicturesque landscape painting. The subject of a cottagenestled in the woods was popularized by Thomas Gains-borough's (1727-17 8 8) Cottage Door pictures of the 1780's.These were well-known in mid-nineteenth century Americathrough prints. Duncanson was familiar with Gainsborough'swork and used the British master's example to amplify hisearlier treatment of the cabin theme with curving, pictur-esque trees that caress the cabin.

Moving into the main entrance hall the fourlandscape murals have a distinctively pastoral mood inspiredby European classical landscape painting. Whereas the trans-verse hall murals are picturesque landscape views, the entrancehall murals shine with the beautiful golden light of classicallandscape painting. The change in aesthetic sensibility fromthe picturesque to the beautiful is characterized by the dif-ferences between the southwest mural in the cross hall andthe northeast panel in the entrance hall. The composition ofthese two murals is remarkably similar with a river flowingfrom the distance into the foreground flanked by balancingmasses of trees. But slight differences in the handling of the

Robert S. Duncanson, Mural,c. 1850-1852, oil on plaster.Transverse hall, southwest wall,Taft Museum.

Robert S. Duncanson, Mural,c. 1850-1852, oil on plaster.Entrance hall, northwest wall,Taft Museum.

The composition of thesemurals is very similar suggest-ing that Duncanson may havefinished the transverse halldecorations with the southwestwall and begun the entrancehall on the northeast wall.

Spring 1988 The Belmont Murals 61

trees, rocks, and river change the entire mood of the paintings.The transverse hall panel is a rocky riverscape

that is unique among the murals because it is devoid ofreferences to man's existence in nature. The focus of thecomposition is the swiftly flowing river. Surging forth fromthe distance, the river winds into the foreground where itcascades into a hidden ravine only to reappear pouring intothe spectator's space. It breaks in the foreground plane andplaces the viewer precariously in the middle of the rapids.The haggard enframing trees, cascading fall, and rottingtrunks present a forceful image of a torrent in the wilderness.This mural panel is undoubtedly the most accomplished ofthose in the transverse hall.

Walking into the entrance hall one noticesthat the northeast mural strikingly resembles a more tamevariation on the compositional format of the transverse hallmural. This suggests a possible sequence in the execution ofthe murals from the transverse hall to the entrance hall. Atorrent in the previous design, the river in the entrance hallpanel gently flows into the foreground and safely off to theleft. Two trees brimming with verdant foliage enframe theview onto some buildings nestled into the rolling hillside.The rocky riverbank is very accessible, and overall, the moodis harmonious natural reverie. The golden light emanatingfrom the horizon bathes the scene with the idyllic glow of aclassical landscape. Although the composition is almost thesame as the mural in the transverse hall, Duncanson tamedthe landscape motifs and created a pastoral scene that setsthe mood for the remainder of panels in the entrance hall.

The two murals flanking the main entrance ofthe Taft Museum are directly inspired by classical pastorallandscapes. On the north side a grand estate is the focus ofthe painting and the stage for an anecdotal figure groupboarding a boat. Tall stately trees anchor the left side of thepanel, while a river winds into the luminous distance on theright. Although Duncanson's buildings and arched bridgeare imaginary, the motifs originated in harbor scenes byClaude Lorrain and Joseph M. W. Turner.

The south mural flanking the front entrancedisplays the greatest influences from the European mastersof the classical landscape. In a perfectly balanced composi-tion a group of horse riders cross a river winding through ascene of idyllic serenity. The steady zig-zag flow of the riverinto the luminous horizon, the arched bridges, and theenframing tree groups are hallmarks of a classical landscapecomposition. Duncanson was certainly aware of the classicalprototypes for these compositions through the printedvolumes of masterworks circulated among artists. In this

Robert S. Duncanson, Mural,c. 1850-1852, oil on plaster.Entrance hall, northwest wall,Taft Museum.

Robert S. Duncanson, Mural,c. 1850-1852, oil on plaster.Entrance hall, southwest wall,Taft Museum.

The two murals flanking themain entrance are pastorallandscapes inspired by theclassical European tradition oflandscape painting.

( ; • > Queen City Heritage

case, Turner's "Bridge in the Middle Distance" from the TheLiber Studiorum could have served as a source as could severalother compositions in that portfolio.

The fourth landscape and final panel in theentrance hall is the climax of the "Belmont" decorations andthe most distinctive of the murals. Unlike the continentalscenery of the other entrance hall murals, this panel depicts awilderness scene with twisting tree trunks and a swiftlyflowing river. A group of pioneers rest atop a rocky promi-nence, crowned by a rich rose sunset on the horizon thatendows the scene with an inspirational mood. Nature is herewitnessed by diminutive pioneers in all its grand and beauti-ful splendor. The bright hues of the sunset and the highlyexpressive tree trunks set this panel apart from all of theother murals. The thick textures of the tree bark, the detailsof foliage, and the brilliant sunset demonstrate a markedimprovement in Duncanson's paint handling.

Twisting, storm-blasted tree trunks were stockmotifs in the repertories of Hudson River School artists. For

the first time in Duncanson's work romantic trees reach theirexpressive potential in this mural panel. These trees becomean anchor for Duncanson's picturesque and sublime views ofthe i 8 5 o's such as the Landscape with Shepherd (1852, Metro-politan Museum of Art). The cascading fall, enframed bytwisting trees link the mural to the later easel painting. Butthe mural is emotionally elevated by the rich sunset convey-ing a reverence for nature. One tree trunk curling aroundanother was a device described by British aesthetician Wil-liam Gilpin (1724-1804) as a picturesque formula for endow-ing paintings with a lively mood and inciting the imagina-tion. This motif appears in the mural panel, yet Duncansonused this device to its greatest effect much later in thedramatically sublime Western Forest, 1857. The sunset muralis certainly the most accomplished of the murals in its tech-nical achievements and elevated sentiments. Its relation toDuncanson's later works of the 18 5 o's suggests that it wasthe last of the murals to be executed.

Although very little documentation exists link-

Robert S. Duncanson, Land-scape with Shepherd, 1852, oilon canvas. MetropolitanMuseum of Art; gift of HansonK. Corning by exchange. Theexpressive tree trunks of the

"Sunset" mural relate to thismature Duncanson landscapeof the 1850's.

Spring 1988 The Belmont Murals 63

ing Duncanson to the murals, a comparison with his easelpaintings leaves no doubt that the "Belmont" murals are hiswork. Nicholas Longworth's commission came at a crucialperiod in Duncanson's artistic development. Despite hishaving created nothing comparable prior to this commission,Duncanson summoned his great industry and rose to thechallenge. The vast scale and complexity of the mural projectchallenged Duncanson's technical capabilities. After hecompleted the project, his skills were dramatically enhanced,and the artist embarked on a career of critical and popularsuccess in America, Canada, and England. By 1861, areviewer for the Cincinnati Gazette raved: "Mr. Duncansonhas long enjoyed the enviable reputation of being the bestlandscape painter in the West."31

Nicholas Longworth's commission for the

mural decorations launched Duncanson's career and allowedhim to become the first Afro-American artist to earn anational and international reputation. It is difficult to imag-ine Duncanson's achieving this success without having over-come the challenge of the mural commission. In contractingthe decoration of his home to a young, untrained artist,Longworth revealed a remarkable trust in Duncanson. Theresult of Longworth's trust and his philanthropic spirit is alegacy in American art that now graces the halls of the TaftMuseum. The "Belmont" murals are unique in Americanart, combining the traditions of interior fashions, muralpainting, and the fine art of landscape painting. Duncanson'seight landscapes and overdoor paintings are the most accom-plished domestic decorations executed in America beforethe Civil War.

This essay has been adapted from an article for the catalog of the TaftMuseum collection which is currently being prepared.

1. A review of the contemporary newspapers (the Gazette and Enquirer),Nicholas Longworth's letters in The Cincinnati Historical Society, and theGolden Wedding Anniversary pamphlet and scrapbook (1857) reveal nomention of the decorative mural scheme.2. Clara Longworth DeChambrun, Cincinnati: The Story of the Queen City(New York, 19 3 9), p. 113.3. Since their discovery, the murals have been attributed to no other artist.See: Walter Siple, "The Taft Museum," Cincinnati Art Museum Bulletin, v.IV, no. I, (January 19 3 3), pp. 1 -21. James A. Porter, "Robert S. Duncanson:Midwestern Romantic-Realist," Art in America, v. XXXIX, no. 3, (October195 i),pp. 99-154. Guy McElroy,RobertS. Duncanson: A CentennialExhbiition.Cincinnati Art Museum, March 16-April 30, 1972.4. United States Census: New York State, Seneca County, Fayette (18 30), p.66; Michigan, Monroe County, Monroe (1840), p. 6. Dennis Au, AssistantDirector of the Monroe County Historical Museum, who discoveredDuncanson's Monroe connection, believes the family arrived in Monroearound 1832. See also: James E. DeVries, Race and Kinship in a MidwesternTown (Chicago, 1984), p. 14.5. Monroe Gazette (Michigan), (April 17, 18 3 8 to April 9, 1 8 3 9).6. Nicholas Longworth correspondence with Hiram Powers (August 29,1851); also noted in letter of June 20, 1852. Hiram Powers Papers, TheCincinnati Historical Society.7. Anthony Janson, "The Cincinnati Landscape Tradition," Celebrate Cin-cinnati Art (Cincinnati, 1982), p. 13.8. Denny Carter Young, "The Longworths: Three Generations of ArtPatronage in Cincinnati," Celebrate Cincinnati Art (Cincinnati, 1982), p. 29.9. Siple, pp. 3-5.

1 o. Clara Longworth DeChambrun, The Making of Nicholas Longworth(New York, 1933), p. 39.11. Siple, p. 4.12. Siple, p. 7; Ruth Neely, "Art Treasures of Old Taft Home," CincinnatiPost, November 29, 19 3 2, p. 1.13. Neely, p. 1.14. Catherine Lynn, Wallpaper in America: Prom the Seventeenth Century toWorld War I (New York, 1980), p. 228.15. Catherine Lynn Frangiamore, Wallpaper in Historic Preservation (Wash-ington, D.C., 1977), p. 3 3.16. Lynn, 1980, p. 89.17. Ibid., pp. 56, 76.i&. Ibid., pp. 183-184.

19. Ibid., pp . 2 5 0-2 51 .

20. Nina Fletcher Little, American Decorative Wall Painting, 1700-1850(New York, 1972), p. 66.21. Record of the Western Art Union, v. I, no. V, (October 1849), pp. 12, 17,#66, 180.

22. Michigan Farmer, v. VII, no. 19 (October 1, 1849), p. 299.2 3. Bulletin of the American Art Union (December 18 5 o), # 313.24. Detroit Free Press, September 27, 1 849, p. 3.25. Little, p. 49.26. Little, pp. xix, 85.27. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, January 30, 1850.28. Edward Radford, "Canadian Photographs," Art Journal (London), n.s.Ill , (1864), p. 113.29. Little, p. 1 24.30. Junius Sloan to Robert Spencer, March 4, 18 51, Spencer Manuscripts,Newberry Library Chicago. J. Carson Webster, "Junius R. Sloan," Art inAmerica, v. 40, no. 3 (Summer 1952), pp. 104, 106, 107.31. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 30, 1 8 61, p. 3.

Errata: The reproduction ofLilly Martin Spencer's Portraitof Nicholas Longworth on page26 is a detail of the painting.