A Black Cincinnatian’s artwork hangs in the White House
More than 150 years after Robert S. Duncanson painted Landscape with Rainbow, the Bidens selected it as a symbol of hope.
During the inaugural gift-giving ceremony, President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden received Robert S. Duncanson Landscape with Rainbow, which was painted in Cincinnati in 1859.
It’s the first painting by a Black artist to hang in the White House, notably two weeks after a Confederate-flag carrying mob stormed D.C. Duncanson created it during the Civil War era as a “rare, radical symbol of hope,” and the Bidens selected it for similar reasons.
“I like the rainbow,” Dr. Biden said. “Good things to follow.”
To read more about Duncanson’s life and work, click here.
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