James Duncan

James D. Duncan (1806 – September 28, 1881), the first Irish artist to emigrate to Lower Canada,

He is considered the major chronicler of early Montreal over several decades, particularly for his picturesque topographical views with their accurately recorded architectural detail as in his Montreal from the Mountain (before 1854, McCord Museum).

His genre scenes of Montreal recorded sporting events, parades, fires, market vendors, sleighing and ice-cutting, among other subjects such as his Ice Pile, Montreal, in the Peter Winkworth Collection of the Library and Archives Canada. They were the first tint-stone lithographs published in Canada. In 1847, he published a Panoramic view of Montreal.

Selected public collections Forty of his works are in the McCord Museum. the Royal Ontario Museum and Library and Archives Canada.

Memberships In 1837, Duncan was a lieutenant in the Montreal Light Infantry.