Landscape with Family by Lake
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of J & R Investments
Accession Number
1983.95.175
Tags
familylakeboating
About this artwork
During the late 1850s, Robert S. Duncanson painted romantic views of the Ohio River valley, near his home in Cincinnati. Images like Landscape with Family by Lake showed people enjoying nature in peaceful settings, suggesting the nineteenth-century faith that God created the wilderness for man to enjoy. The setting sun infuses the tree in the foreground with glowing colors to evoke a divine light watching over the countryside.