Why would a free black man go to the South during the time of slavery? And not just to visit, but to paint numerous landscapes, risking life and limb?

This was a question art dealers Michael and Julie Meyer asked themselves when they started collecting the paintings of 19th-century landscape artist, Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872). Duncanson was a black man and a highly regarded artist in the Hudson River School (HRS). The HRS was made famous by the father of American landscape art, Thomas Cole. Artists associated with the HRS featured the virgin forests and landscapes of the wild and untouched American terrain.

Duncanson became a leading painter of the day in the West during the 1840s and ’50s with his work featured nationally before the Civil War. His fame has surged recently for his work “Landscape with Rainbow” featured in the U.S. Capitol for President Biden’s 2021 inauguration.

The answer to the Meyers’ initial question of a black man voluntarily painting landscapes in the South has led them to discover perhaps one of the most fascinating artistic journeys in American art history. The beautiful landscapes Duncanson painted were not just created for his own pleasure or as mementos of the South but can be read in a much more intriguing light.

They were encrypted visual maps within compositions of detailed ridgelines, water sources, and gorges leading north as a pathway for those seeking freedom. In his paintings, Duncanson embedded the code words and necessary maneuvers used in the Underground Railroad that abolitionists of the day would understand. The Meyers’ working theory is that members of the Underground Railroad used these images and smaller sketches to familiarize runaways with the terrain of the next stop in their journey north.

Since first discovering his work, the Meyers have now identified 46 of Duncanson’s landscapes, all of which are featured at their gallery, Meyer Fine Art, an hour outside of Washington, D.C., in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The exhibit has been curated by Michael, an art historian and recognized expert on Duncanson.

The spark that got the couple thinking about Duncanson’s........

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