Henry Ossawa Tanner

Kate's Log - StarDate - 12 February 2012

While driving on Fairmount Avenue last week,  I saw some banners hanging from the telephone poles.  They were for an exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts on Henry Ossawa Tanner.  To be honest, I had never heard of this gentleman so, of course, I needed to Google him when I got home. 

Eakins Oval

Henry Ossawa Tanner was born on June 21, 1859 in Pittsburgh, PA and in 1864 his father moved the family to Philadelphia, PA. At the age of 13, while walking through Fairmount Park, Henry encountered an artist at work.  At that point, he decided that is what he also wanted to do with his life.  Throughout his teenage years, he painted and sketched and visited galleries in Philadelphia as much as possible.  Tanner was the first African American artist to gain international acclaim. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts so it only seems fitting that the museum would be exhibiting his works during Black History Month.  Henry was a student of Thomas Eakins.  Aside....Eakins Oval in Philadelphia is named after Eakins.  The picture above might seem familiar to some you.  If you recall the scene in Rocky when he looks down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway from the Art Museum steps, Eakins Oval is right in front of him...end of Aside.  Tanner was one of Eakins favorite students.  Years later, Eakins painted a portrait of Tanner one of only a selected few of his former students who had this honor. 

The Banjo Player

Though a very talented artist, mostly known for his biblical work, the late 19th century was still a time of great racism in the US and Tanner was not exempt from it.  For that reason he left the country with plans to go to  Rome.  But before going to Rome, he stopped for visits in London and Paris.  When he arrived in Paris, he fell in love with "The City of Lights" and since he felt that he would be able to thrive more artistically there, he made Paris his home. He never made it to Rome..at least not then.  He would come back state side occasionally but for the most part, France was his home.  He died in Paris in May 1937.

This biography only briefly touches Tanner's life and accomplishments.  For more information on this wonderful artist and to see some of his works, please visit:

• www.biography.com/people/henry-ossawa-tanner-9501966
• http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/EOP/First_Lady/html/hot-bio.html
• www.canvasreplicas.com/Tanner.htm
• www.pafa.org/Museum/Exhibitions/Currently-On-View/Henry-Ossawa-Tanner-Modern-Spirit/Henry-Ossawa-Tanner-Modern-Spirit/1147/

More adventures to follow....thanks for reading.