J. P. Ball and Robert S. Duncanson: An African American Artistic Collaboration
John Jacob, McEvoy Family Curator for Photography; Eleanor Harvey, senior curator; and Jill Rothschild, Luce Foundation Curatorial Fellow
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Second Floor
September 15, 2023 — March 2024
J. P. Ball and Robert S. Duncanson
This installation highlights the collaboration between two free, Black artists working in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the antebellum period—photographer James Presley (J. P.) Ball and landscape painter Robert Seldon Duncanson. It features three paintings from SAAM’s collection by Duncanson alongside nine works by Ball. Eight of the photographic works were recently acquired by the museum from the L. J. West Collection and the Dr. Robert L. Drapkin Collection and are on view in SAAM’s galleries for the first time.
