Henry Ossawa Tanner was born in Pittsburgh in 1859 and grew up in Philadelphia in a committed family. His father, Benjamin Tucker Tanner, became bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, while his mother Sarah fled slavery by the Underground Railroad. In 1879, Henry entered the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and studied with Thomas Eakins, whose rigorous observation of the body and the importance of work according to model he learned. Racial discrimination, however, hindered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, hindered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, hindered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, hindered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, hindered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, however, hampered his beginnings in the United States. Racial discrimination, american stay in 1893, he produced The Banjo Lesson. Far from the caricatures then common, an old man patiently transmits his gesture to a child. The instrument, the hands close together and the concentrated light make learning a scene of tenderness, culture and family continuity. Back in France, Tanner turns more and more to biblical subjects. Travels to Palestine and Egypt nourished his attention to the architecture, costumes and light of the Middle East. The Annunciation, painted in 1898, radically renewed the episode: Mary appears as a young woman seized in a modest room, while the angel is reduced to a column of light. The miracle becomes an intimate, almost physical experience. Tanner obtains awards at the Salons and international recognition; he was notably named knight of the Legion of Honor. Established permanently in France, he maintains links with African-American artists and intellectuals, for whom his career constitutes a decisive precedent. Died in Paris in 1937, he left a work where realism, family memory and spiritual vision meet in the light. Died in Paris in 1937, he left a work where realism, family memory and spiritual vision meet in the light. Died in Paris in 1937, he left a work where realism, family memory and spiritual vision meet in the light. Died in Paris in 1937, he left a work where realism, family memory and spiritual vision meet in the light. The "Henry Ossawa Tanner" selection notably compares The Banjo Lesson and The Annunciation. His reading favors drawing.
Tanner not only shows a scene or a miracle: he makes light the place where human dignity, transmission and the invisible become sensitive.
