Duncanson's success in the Cincinnati art community brought him many substantial commissions, such as that of Nicholas Longworth, one of the city's wealthiest citizens. In 1851, Longworth commissioned Duncanson to paint murals on the walls of his home, which was called the Belmont Mansion. Duncanson created eight murals for the entry of the Belmont Mansion, each nine feet high and six and a half feet wide, that depicted landscapes of the American West. Although the scale of the job was large, and Duncanson was still relatively new to the profession, Longworth selected him to decorate his home because he thought Duncanson to be “one of our most promising painters.” Duncanson's previous training in the trade of house painting served him well in his work on the Belmont Mansion. Duncanson's work on the murals in the Belmont Mansion greatly increased his popularity in the art community of Cincinnati, particularly among the white abolitionist contingent. The murals were eventually covered by wallpaper, but were rediscovered in 1933 and are now displayed in the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati.