The Good Shepherd

Henry Ossawa Tanner

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Henry Ossawa Tanner

American · 1859–1937

realism

Henry Ossawa Tanner 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. In 1923, the French government elected Tanner chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

Independent artist guide by Momentable. Biography from Wikipedia; artworks credited to the museums that hold them.

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The Good Shepherd — The living window: art moves here the way it moves in your living room.

life: 1859–1937life
movement: realismmovement

The work

A selection of 1 works, free to stream.

Works worth knowing

What Henry Ossawa Tanner made, and why each one is worth looking at.

How Henry Ossawa Tanner worked

From the record of their own practice.

Tanner painted landscapes, religious subjects, and scenes of daily life in a realistic style that echoed that of Eakins. While works like The Banjo Lesson depicted everyday scenes of African American life, Tanner later painted religious subjects. It is likely that Tanner's father, a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was a formative influence for him. Tanner was not limited to one specific approach to painting and drawing. His works reflect at times meticulous attention to detail and loose, expressive brushstrokes in others.