The first famous Black American artist - Henry Ossawa Tanner (2024)

This painting deserves to be better known and with the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, it is time to examine it once more.

I first showed this painting in a lecture 8 years ago. It’s called ‘The Banjo Lesson’ (1893) and it’s by Henry Ossawa Tanner.

Henry Ossawa Tanner was the first successful African-American artist. He triumphed in a world that was predominantly white to create paintings of power, beauty and poignancy.

Tanner’s mother was a black slave who had dramatically escaped via a railroad. His father was a Methodist minister and an abolitionist. Henry’s middle name, ‘Ossawa’, referred to the struggle at Osawatomie in Kansas, between pro- and anti-slavery partisans.

Tanner was the only black student (at that time) to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. His talent was recognised early, particularly by his teacher Thomas Eakins. He went on, like many great artists, to train in Paris where he encountered the work of Courbet and Millet.

Despite his success and clear skill, Tanner frequently experienced racism during his time in America. He recalled ‘I was extremely timid and to be made to feel that I was not wanted, although in a place where I had every right to be, even months afterwards caused me sometimes weeks of pain’.

After marrying a Swedish American woman one contemporary described: ‘He is an awefully [sic] talented man but he is black. … She seems like a well-educated girl and really very nice but it makes me sick to see a cultivated woman marry a man like that.’

Tanner’s most famous work is ‘The Banjo Lesson’ from 1893. It shows a grandfather passing on his creative knowledge to his grandson – a tender moment of human interaction.

What’s so important about this artwork?

Prior to this painting, black people had long been stereotyped as entertainers. They appeared in minstrel shows as buffoonish, ridiculous and dim-witted. Images propagated this idea that even if black people were no longer slaves, they were still inferior.

Tanner was one of the first to reel against this idea. He painted black people with grace, dignity and sensitivity. In this image, he paints the grandfather and grandson with nobility – they are intelligent and visibly capable of learning.

This quiet painting of beauty was an image of extreme resilience. Tanner de-bunked racist notions that had persisted for years.

Note the light. The boy is depicted with a warm, golden glow on his face. He’s in the foreground, closest to us. A blue, colder light falls upon his grandfather’s face. He recedes into the background.

The light differentiates the two worlds.

The grandfather is from the old world – a world of slavery, inequality and oppression.

All our hopes are now pinned on this boy. He represents a new world, the future.

What kind of world will he emerge into? A world of opportunity, education and change? A world where he will be treated as an equal?

Despite being painted over 100 years ago, this painting is still just as relevant an image today.

If you are interested in finding out more about Art History, including American Art History, why not join one of my Live Online Art History Lectures or Courses? Visit the online talks page to see my list of live talks.

The first famous Black American artist - Henry Ossawa Tanner (2)

The first famous Black American artist - Henry Ossawa Tanner (2024)

FAQs

The first famous Black American artist - Henry Ossawa Tanner? ›

The most distinguished African-American artist

African-American artist
African-American art is a broad term describing visual art created by African Americans. The range of art they have created, and are continuing to create, over more than two centuries is as varied as the artists themselves. Some have drawn on cultural traditions in Africa, and other parts of the world, for inspiration.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › African-American_art
of the nineteenth century, Henry Ossawa Tanner was also the first artist of his race to achieve international acclaim. Tanner was born on June 21, 1859, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Benjamin Tucker and Sarah Miller Tanner.

What was Henry Ossawa Tanner known for? ›

Despite being one of the leading religious genre painters of his age, Henry Ossawa Tanner is best remembered for two paintings depicting domestic scenes of African American life and for being the first black artist to gain international fame.

Why did Henry Ossawa Tanner move to France? ›

After brief stays in Liverpool and London, Tanner arrived in Paris. He was so impressed by this center of art and artists that he abandoned his plans to study in Rome. In Paris, Tanner enrolled in the Academie Julian where the painters Jean Paul Laurens and Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant were among his teachers.

Who was the first African-American female painter? ›

Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia, the oldest of four girls. In 1907, her family moved to Washington, D.C., seeking relief from the racial violence in the South. Though segregated, the nation's capital still offered more opportunities for African Americans than most cities in those years.

Who was the first black artist to gain acclaim for his modern art? ›

Painter. A social realist, Lawrence documented the African American experience in several series devoted to Toussaint L'Ouverture, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, life in Harlem, and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He was one of the first nationally recognized African American artists.

Which artist is known for his paintings of American landscapes? ›

Best American Landscape Painter

Thomas Cole is considered the best among America's painters and the leading painter in the early 19th century. While he portrayed the Hudson River Valley in minute detail, he also created sublime imaginary vistas with clever use of light.

What does the banjo in this painting represent? ›

Banjos, minstrel shows, and stereotypes of African-Americans

It is also important that the instrument that leads the boy towards enlightenment is the banjo, an instrument highly significant to African-American slave culture and the music of the American South.

Who was the 1st black artist? ›

Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist who spent much of his career in France. He became the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian and gained acclaim in French artistic circles.

Who is the oldest black artist? ›

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859 – 1937) was an American artist and teacher who is widely recognized as the first African American to achieve international acclaim as a painter.

Who is the most famous black lady? ›

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

Her defiance to give up her seat led to her arrest on Dec. 1, 1955, but led to revolutionary change. The United States Congress has since honored her as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement.”

Who is a famous Black person? ›

Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks are often elevated—and with good reason. These figures made contributions to Black history and, by extension, American history, that cannot be overstated.

Who is the father of Black American art? ›

Aaron Douglas (1899–1979) is known as the “father of African American art.” He defined a modern visual language that represented black Americans in a new light.

Which artist was the most prominent member of the Hudson River School of Landscape Painting? ›

Along with Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902), Church was the most successful painter of the school until its decline. After Cole's death in 1848, his older contemporary Asher B.

Who was the great portrait painter Sir Henry? ›

Sir Henry Raeburn is perhaps the best known of all Scottish painters. He was almost exclusively a portraitist and his career was wholly in Scotland, mainly in Edinburgh. Apprenticed to a jeweller, it is not precisely known how Raeburn's attention turned to painting.

Who is Henry Art Gallery named after? ›

In 1927, Seattle entrepreneur Horace C. Henry founded the Henry Art Gallery, Washington State's first art museum, to feature art of the present time. From its earliest days, the Henry has been committed to showcasing world-renowned contemporary artists and championing emerging talent.

Who was the Chinese artist who created the ink painting early spring shown here and in which Chinese period did he do so? ›

Early Spring by Guo xi, 1072. Chinese landscape painting unites Confucian philosophical concepts with Daoist and Buddhist thinking about nature.

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