The Drunkard's Plight

Robert S. Duncanson American, 1821 - 1872
Not On View
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About the Artwork

The Drunkard's Plight

1845

Robert S. Duncanson

1821 - 1872

American

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Oil on canvas

Framed: 19 1/2 × 23 7/8 × 1 3/4 inches (49.5 × 60.6 × 4.4 cm) Unframed: 15 1/4 × 19 3/4 inches (38.7 × 50.2 cm)

Paintings

African American Art

Gift of Miss Sarah M. Sheridan

44.277

Public Domain

Markings

Signed, lower right: Duncanson

Signed and dated, lower right: Duncanson | Pinxit 1845

Provenance

ca. 1845-1904, the collection of James A. Roys (Detroit, Michigan, USA), a bookseller who may have acquired the painting from the artist;
1904-44, Miss Ella Grace Roys, his daughter.
1944-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Cavallo. 1950-51, p. 24.

Art in America 39, no 3 (Oct. 1951): 108.

Porter, J. 1951, pp. 108-109.

Dover. 1960, p. 25, pl. 18.

Ten Afro-American Artists of the Nineteenth Century. Exh. cat., Howard University. Washington, D. C. , 1967, p. 14.

Boston Sunday Globe. January 9, 1972.

Phoenix. January 26, 1972, 29.

Robert S. Duncanson. Exh. cat., Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati, 1972, no. 37, p. 37.

Gibson, A. H. Artists of Early Michigan. Detroit, 1975, p. 94 (ill.).

Parks. 1980, p. 37.

Ketner, Joseph D. The Emergence of the African-American Artist: Robert S. Duncanson, 1821-1872. 1993, pp. 19, 22, fig. 7, 191-192, no. 10.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Robert S. Duncanson, The Drunkard's Plight, 1845, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Miss Sarah M. Sheridan, 44.277.

The Drunkard's Plight
The Drunkard's Plight