ART: HENRY OSSAWA TANNER
Reaching For A Higher Ground and Painting “The Annunciation”
The Artist’s Beginnings
Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937) was an excellent painter. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1859. He was born some 6 years before the end of slavery into a family that was free.
Tanner’s Father (Benjamin Tucker Tanner) was a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church. His mother (Sarah Miller Tanner) was a former slave, a religious woman, and the subject of at least two of her son’s paintings.
Still further, Tanner started painting around the age of 13. As he continued forward in his pursuit to become a painter, his race and religious family upbringing would factor into his art as far as the subjects and themes he chose to paint.
Although Tanner was American, he spent most of his adult life in France. He left America in 1891 and his visits to America were very infrequent. He left to avoid America’s adverse racial climate toward African Americans.
What Shall I Paint
Tanner initial paintings were that of landscapes, portraits, and scenes from everyday life. Also, it is worth noting that Tanner’s artistic style and techniques were founded in the genre called Realism. This is to say, he sought to make his renderings as close to real life as possible.
