Discovering Duncan. James Duncan: One of Quebec's Most Famous Unknown Artists

Type of resource
Authors/collaborators
Title
Discovering Duncan. James Duncan: One of Quebec's Most Famous Unknown Artists
Abstract
A biography of the artist James Duncan (1806-1881), who immigrated to Montreal from Ireland circa 1830. Although largely forgotten today, during his years in Montreal he was involved in the cultural life of the city, serving as the secretary-treasurer of the Montreal Society of Artists when it was founded in 1846. He also participated in the inaugural activities of the Art Association of Montreal in 1860 and taught in several public and private schools and institutions. His paintings captured the changing Montreal cityscape, as it evolved and expanded from the 1830s to the mid-nineteenth century. Unfortunately, the author's old-school Québécois nationalist views leads him to write such incoherent statements as: “Although Duncan enjoyed the status of an artist, he was nonetheless constrained to a subordinate position, somewhere between the lower level of the French Canadians, doubly colonized because of their French background and Canadian identity, and that of his superiors.”
Book Title
James Duncan (1806-1881): Painter of Montreal
Place
Montreal
Publisher
McCord Stewart Museum
Date
2023
Pages
13-45
Language
en
ISBN
978-1-73892-470-7
Citation
Lacroix, Laurier. “Discovering Duncan. James Duncan: One of Quebec’s Most Famous Unknown Artists.” In James Duncan (1806-1881): Painter of Montreal, edited by Laurier Lacroix and Suzanne Sauvage, 13–45. Montreal: McCord Stewart Museum, 2023.
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