Capturing the Past

Robert Duncan views himself as someone who straddles the line between the past and the present, a self-image that has guided his paintbrush and a prolific career.
“I love new technology, driving a team of horses and planting a garden,” Robert explains. “We don’t have to throw away the best of the old to be part of the new. I try to paint things from today that could have been part of the past to show that you can do just that.”

Strolling around his large, new lodge-like gallery on Main Street in Midway, you can instantly identify the themes that inspire most of Robert’s art. Start with the farmers and ranchers—a girl guides a horse away from a barn during a snowstorm in one painting, and in another, she stoops to feed sheep from a bucket. There are scenes from haying time, kids being pulled in a pony cart in fall, and a man in suspenders tilling a field behind a workhorse.

In addition to capturing images of those who live off the land, Robert also portrays quiet moments that create instant feelings of nostalgia, such as children examining Christmas trees and mothers holding their babies.

Each painting reflects Robert’s optimism and his drive to create an understanding of uncommon lives in the modern world. “People who haven’t lived it want to feel it,” he says. A rodeo rider looks calm and in control on the back of a bucking bronco. An old man with a determined look of toughness moves hay during a New England winter. All of the paintings employ soft light and conventional framing to convey a sense of comfort and calm, as well as a familiar combination of realism and impressionism.

Robert found his first inspiration for such themes on his grandparents’ Wyoming ranch, where he spent summers as a teenager herding cattle and mending fences. After graduating from high school in Salt Lake City, Robert studied art at the University of Utah and then began painting Western-themed works. He was elected into the respected Cowboy Artists of America organization at age 29.

Robert says his work took a new direction when he painted “Mother and Son” in 1987, a piece inspired by his wife and newborn baby. “It was an important turning point,” he remembers. From then on, he’s focused on what he’s identified as his strength: capturing a feeling. “The ultimate goal of art is to share what your feeling was when you created it,” Robert explains. “That’s what gives me the most pleasure in my work.”

As Robert shows me around the gallery, which has a spacious storage area for hundreds of his prints and will soon feature a full basement for even more gallery space, Josh Duncan, one of Robert’s six children, asks if the artist will sign a book for a customer. “I’ll always do it if I’m here,” Robert amiably agrees.

For many fans, Robert’s signature increases the value of an already important piece of art. With his original oils selling for anywhere between $1,000 and $28,000 and a high production rate for posters, limited edition prints and canvas giclees, Robert’s paintings are multiplying quickly but retaining value. Josh and his brother Christian help coordinate Web sales and coordinate business with the 3,000 frame shops and galleries around the world that carry their father’s works.

The fact that two Duncan children work full time for the business testifies to the family’s commitment to supporting Robert’s career. Robert’s wife Linda does the books for the gallery as well as the interior design. Robert says that all of his children have posed for paintings at some time or another, and that once, his daughter fainted from standing still for too long.

Midway seems like the perfect location for the Duncan family. During winter, they drive a horse-drawn sleigh down Main Street, an idyllic scene that Robert captured in his painting “Time for a Sleighride.” The family also skate-skis at Soldier Hollow and downhill skis at Deer Valley. In the summer, Robert says he enjoys road and mountain biking, as well as kayaking.

And although Midway remains quaint, with historic pioneer homes bordering vast fields in sight of Mount Timpanogos, developers have discovered the town’s charms. “It’s sad for me,” Robert says. “Growth is hard for someone who loves the rural side of life. Every field that disappears is gone forever.”

To find more examples of what he loves to paint, Robert travels extensively each year. New England’s long history of family farming draws Robert for multi-week visits when possible, and he’s also journeyed to Russia, Scandinavia and England for his work. But it’s not just the western world that Robert finds attractive. He hopes to visit Tibet and Siberia, specifically to watch reindeer herders work.

For the future, Robert hopes to continue growing as a painter and producing as many pieces as he can. He continues to embrace the past and the present as he uses his new Macintosh computer to surf the Web looking for old-fashioned inspiration. “You have to look backward to go forward,” he muses.

Robert Duncan Studios can be found at 260 E. Main Street, Midway, 435.657.0500.

Lucy Burningham is a full-time freelance writer who recently relocated from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon.