After the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which marked the official beginning of the American national identity, the new nation needed a history, and part of that history would be expressed visually. Most of early American art (from the late 18th century through the early 19th century) consists of history painting and portraits. Painters such as Gilbert Stuart made portraits of the newly elected government officials, while John Singleton Copley was painting emblematic portraits for the increasingly prosperous merchant class, and painters such as John Trumbull were making large battle scenes of the Revolutionary War. Wikipedia info on American Art Periods
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 Robert Scott Duncanson (1821 - December 21, 1872) was born in Seneca County, New York in 1821. Duncanson’s father was a Canadian of Scottish descent and his mother was an African American. Duncanson, an artist who is relatively unknown today, painted America, both physically and figuratively, at a time when the country was in turmoil. Beautiful and serene, Duncanson’s work sheds light on American art that has been forgotten over the years.
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Joshua Johnson (c.1763–1832) was the first African American painter to make his living by painting, and a noted folk artist. Life
 Edward and Sarah Rutter
At the time, Baltimore had a large free African American population; in 1810, free blacks outnumbered enslaved individuals two to one. The Maryland Historical Society owns a record dated 1782 which documents Joshua’s freedom at age 20. It is not clear whether the Joshua Johnson of this record, identified as an apprentice blacksmith, is the same Joshua Johnson marked as a painter in the later 1796 record. Census records show that Johnson moved frequently through Baltimore and its Fells Point neighborhood. He may have been owned by a painter as a house servant during his youth. |
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