Hi! African-Americans have had quite an influence on the direction of art and fashion throughout the years, but it isn't often given much attention. Wednesdays throughout the month of February will be reserved for the accomplishments of African-Americans in both art and fashion, so that we can learn about those who paved the way. Here is today's Spotlight.
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Name: Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1859-1937
Profession: Realist painter
Why is the Spotlight on him today? For being the first African-American artist to achieve international status and for his contributions to the art industry
Popular works:
The Banjo Lesson (1893)
The Thankful Poor (1894)
The Seine (1902)
Flight into Egypt (1916 or 1922, the year is disputed)
Accomplishments:
--First Black artist to receive full membership to the National Academy of Design
--Only Black student during his time at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts & only Black apprentice of his instructor, Thomas Eakins
--Was twice awarded the French honor of Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur for his work
--Was the first Black artist to depict African-Americans in paintings that were based off of true life experiences without being stereotypical or racially degrading to Blacks, as was often the custom of painters during that time
--Received both a Lippincott Prize and a gold medal from the Paris Salon
--In 1969, was the posthumous subject in the of a 90-piece retrospective tour sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Institute and the National Collection of Fine Arts
--Has a painting on permanent display at the National Gallery of Art
--Was the only African-American artist with a painting in the Louvre for years
--Is now widely recognized as the most successful African-American painter
Brief biography:
Henry Ossawa Tanner was born in Pittsburgh to a bishop father and a mother who was born into slavery before escaping to freedom through the Underground Railroad and becoming a teacher. He was a sickly child and for awhile, his parents questioned whether or not he'd even survive. After realizing he wanted to be a painter, he attempted to pursue it by hiring an instructor, but all of the art instructors were white and would not work with him. He eventually got into the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, despite much protest from other students, and became the apprentice to Thomas Eakins, a successful painter in his own right. Eakins' skill and style of instruction influenced Tanner's paintings and helped him sharpen his own skill set. Later in life, Eakins would extend an honor to Tanner that was quite rare for him; he painted the portrait of Tanner that I used for today's image. Tanner endured his share of bullying by racist classmates during his time at the Academy. Despite that, however, he finished his education there and intended to move to Rome, but fell in love with Paris and decided to stay there instead.
A return to America due to illness resulted in the creation of one of his most famous pieces, The Banjo Lesson, but he returned to Paris not long after, where he remained for the rest of his life. Unlike America, Parisians in the art world weren't so focused on his race and his work took center stage instead, which was what Tanner wanted. In America, he was unable to receive the same level of recognition. There was also a level of conflict because African-Americans viewed him as a hero of sorts for bringing public awareness to African-American life that wasn't a crude caricature, but Tanner was uncomfortable with becoming purely fixated on race in his art. While many of his early works focused on African-American life and scenes, his later work took on more of a religious stance, as he drew inspiration from his religious upbringing and his father's profession as a bishop. Throughout this time he received several prestigious honors from a number of sources, including the Paris Salon and the National Academy of Design. His skill has inspired generations of artists since his time, and his work has been cemented by being hung in various museums around the world.
Tanner's artistic style can best be described as a combination of loose, flowing brushstrokes and detail-heavy accents. The styles that had the most effect on Tanner's style of painting were the realism aspect from his old mentor, Thomas Eakins, and the Impressionist attention to lighting effects that he learned from his instructors at the French art academy Academie Julien. The painting style known as "Tanner's Blues" comes from Tanner's distinctive usage of different shades of blue with varying kinds of lights, a mixture of Impressionist accents with Tanner's own style of painting.
Further reading links:
I had never heard of Henry Ossawa Tanner or seen any of his work until I started researching for this post. If you've been here for most of my SUTS posts over the years, you already know that I will be repeating that first line several more times throughout the month. lol But now that I've seen his work, it's absolutely beautiful. I always hate it when you have to leave your home country in order to succeed in life and end up receiving the acceptance with other people that you should have been able to get at home. There is so much I left out of this biography because I just wanted to give you an idea of who he was rather than a full Wikipedia spread, but I think I got the most important things. I strongly suggest checking out the links to see his artwork.
Anyway, if you're a regular here you know I do a From the ... Files series, with a different source every week, and I wanted to make this week's an art-themed eBay Files, so we could focus on pioneers in African-American art. I won't make any promises, but if I can pull it together in time, it'll be up this weekend. I hope you enjoyed today's post and I'll see you tomorrow!
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