Artist Bio
Tanner, Henry Ossawa
Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937)was the son of Rev. Benjamin Tucker
Tanner, Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Born in
Pittsburgh and raised in Philadelphia, he studied at the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts under Thomas Easkins. As an African-American
artist, Tanner found it difficult to establish patronage in
Philadelphia or in Atlanta, where he initially opened a photography
studio. During a trip to the North Carolina mountains, his paintings of
local black residents impressed Bishop Joseph Hartzel, who became the
first of Tanner's several white benefactors. Hartzel purchased Tanner's
entire exhibition, enabling the artist to travel abroad. He studied for
several years at the Academie Julian in Paris, where his work became
more personal and sensitive. Around 1896, Tanner began to focus on
religious subjects, a change that brought critical and financial
success. His overwhelming acceptance at the Paris Salon brought with it
awards and honors and the support of affluent French patrons. Following
a trip to the Holy Land, Tanner's style changed dramatically,
developing into a mature blend of spirituality and impressionistic
color, light, and form. Although his work was earning increasing notice
in America, Tanner decided to make Paris his permanent home after his
marriage in 1898 to a white woman from California. Tanner was the first
black artist elected to the National Academy and was made a Knight of
France's Legion of Honor. His painting "The Raising of Lazarus" was
purchased by the French government for the Luxembourg Museum. Today his
works are found in many museums in Europe and America, including the
Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum, the Art Institute
of Chicago, and the Los Angeles Museum of Art. No items found.