ROBERT SCOTT DUNCANSON | Carp River, Lake Superior

W.B. McLellan, Waynesville, Ohio, 1850
Private collection (sold: Sotheby's, New York, October 25, 1985, lot 11)
Private collection (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired by the present owner, by 1995

Cincinnati, Ohio, Western Art Union, 1850, no. 4170
Ithaca, New York, Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, The American Landscape, January-February 1995
Annville, Pennsylvania, Suzanne H. Arnold Gallery, Lebanon Valley, Passages: Images of Transition in 19th-Century American Landscape Painting, August-October 1995
Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland Museum of American Art; University Park, Pennsylvania, Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University; Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester Art Museum; New York, The National Academy, All That Is Glorious Around Us: Paintings from the Hudson River School, August 1997-September 1999, p. 60, illustrated p. 61
Fredericksburg, Virginia, University of Mary Washington Galleries, All That Is Glorious: Paintings from the Hudson River School, October-December 2005

Joseph D. Ketner, The Emergence of the African-American Artist: Robert S. Duncanson, 1821-1872, Columbia, Missouri, 1993, no. 31, pp. 30-31, 193, illustrated fig. 17, p. 32

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes, Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This early work by the artist is fully inscribed on the reverse. The panel is flat and the paint layer is stable. It is cleaned and varnished. The landscape and foreground are completely unretouched, except for some frame abrasion along the bottom edge. The signature and date are in perfect condition. There are small retouches visible under ultraviolet light in the center of the sky and on the left side, which address some small paint losses and thinness. The detail in the foreground is particularly good, and the buildings and settlements in the far distance remain well preserved. The work should be hung as is.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The scholar Joseph D. Ketner writes of the present work: "The artist's final tour of the Lake Superior region in the summer of 1850 is evidenced in his oil sketch of Carp River, Lake Superior. The small format and broad execution of the painting suggest that he sketched it on the site. The battered and weathered trees indicate his interest in capturing the sublime forces of nature, as well as the picturesque qualities..." (The Emergence of the African-American Artist: Robert S. Duncanson, 1821-1872, Columbia, Missouri, 1993, p. 30).