21st Anniversary Preview

21st Anniversary 12 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com A n iconic wonder that has attracted artists for centuries is Natural Bridge in the Shenandoah Valley. Henry Schenck Tanner (1786–1858) prominently placed a colorful engraving of the arched formation on his 1822 “Map of North America,” illustrating the marvel as a symbol of national pride and a celebration of the wonders the country had to offer, at a time of westward expansion ( Promoting America, pages 60–69). Natural Bridge is also the subject of Virginia Arcadia: The Natural Bridge in American Art (pages 22, 24), an exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. This is the first exhibition to provide a historical survey of the formation and its mythic role in nineteenth-century landscape painting. The American landscape featured prominently in the work of Black artist Robert Seldon Duncanson (1821–1872). Painting in the tradition of the Hudson River School, Duncanson threaded the needle between his work as an artist and his sympathies for abolitionism. Though his landscapes may appear to be simply pastoral scenes, they are often laced with anti-slavery references. Among these is Cattle and Rainbow (1859), a detail of which is featured on the cover of this issue. In Robert Duncanson, Painter of Freedom (pages 48–59), Hudson River School scholar Robert Alexander Boyle points to the symbolic significance of the rainbow and cattle; the former signifying the escape of slaves to Canada, with the cattle used as code for “runaways.” The device that takes center stage in this image is the rainbow, which has also been interpreted as a symbol of hope. On display at the U.S. Capitol on the recent inauguration day (and titled Landscape with Rainbow by the Smithsonian, who loaned it), the painting was selected to reflect the “forging of a more perfect union,” a sentiment relating to today, but also something for which Duncanson longed. I hope you will enjoy these and the other articles in this our 21st anniversary issue (and my twenty-first year as editor). Thank you to all the contributors and readers through the last two decades, and to my colleagues, who have made my role as editor such a pleasure and an honor. Thank you, Johanna johanna@antiquesandfineart.com Photography by Ellen McDermott LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Clive Devenish Antiques (510) 414-4545 www.clivedevenishantiques.com clivedevenishantiques@comcast.net Member: Antiques Dealers' Association of America George I Walnut Bachelors Chest, circa 1720 Rare and Unique Form. Original Surface and Pulls. Established 1976