A man of quiet force and talent, African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) painted such well-known works as The Banjo Lesson, Daniel in the Lion's Den and The Annunciation. Tanner was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Philadelphia, and he later attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts when painter, sculptor and photographer Thomas Eakins was a professor at the school. Additionally, when Tanner enrolled at the Academy in 1879, there were no other African Americans among the student body.
Tanner and Eakins
Eakins, an exacting realist, eventually became Director of the Pennsylvania Academy. His teaching methods were innovative yet controversial, and while he wasn‘t much of a nurturer, he generally tried to urge his students to reach their fullest potential. Eakins would find himself in trouble for his sometimes too free-spirited behavior and insistence that his female students be allowed to sketch and observe fully nude male models—instead of just male models wearing loincloths. These loincloths represented barriers of Victorian decency in fabric form, there to keep the perceived delicate psyches of such females from being offended and corrupted.
Before Eakins resigned with pressure from the Pennsylvania Academy in 1886, he taught Henry Ossawa Tanner. Eakins had championed Tanner's admission, thereby breaking down other barriers and welcoming the shy and reserved Tanner as the Academy's first African American student. Eakins liked Tanner quite a bit and soon regarded him as one of his favorite pupils. He allowed little slack towards Tanner, however, advising the diffident younger man to be more artistically forceful and to either "[g]et it, get it better, or get it worse" but not to allow any "middle ground or compromise."
Beyond the Academy
While Eakins confined his own color concerns to the painter's palette, Tanner did experience prejudice from some of his fellow artists-in-training. Signs of normal self-confidence on his part were often attacked—either physically or verbally—and Tanner lived in a general state of creative and personal anxiety. His lessons with Eakins, however, provided firm artistic grounding and inspiration, and the teacher and pupil ultimately became colleagues and friends.
With the coming of the 1890s, Tanner made his way to France, where he would remain for the balance of his career. He found a certain freedom from racial issues in Europe, along with the chance to focus more on his work and less on having to always justify his skin tone. Tanner also found a calling in painting Biblical scenes, drawing upon his background as a minister's son and developing a unique style and memorable use of light and hue.
In 1897, Thomas Eakins reconnected with his protege Tanner and had him pose for a portrait. Though Eakins was a skilled portrait painter, he tended to be selective about his subjects and Tanner represented one of but a few former students whom Eakins made the effort to capture on canvas. Eakins' resulting view of Tanner is finely nuanced, showing Tanner as still self-effacing in appearance while possessing a perceptive and determined nature.
Legacies
Eakins died in 1916, having never quite regained his equilibrium after leaving the Pennsylvania Academy. Following his death, his reputation gradually resurged and he is now considered to be among America's best realist painters. Tanner died in 1937 and was at the time lauded as the most successful African American artist of his day. Tanner's journey had been winding and sometimes troubled, but his crossing paths with Eakins was a fortunate meeting for both men—and a positive step for race relations in Philadelphia and the world beyond.
Sources
- The Story of an Artist’s Life -- Henry O. Tanner (The World's Work, Vol. 18, 1909, Doubleday, Page & Co.)
- Henry Ossawa Tanner – Smithsonian American Art Museum Online Exhibitions
- Thomas Eakins: Scenes from Modern Life – PBS.org
