Olivia
The son of a former slave, freed via the Underground Railroad, and an African Methodist Episcopal minister, Henry Ossawa Tanner was introduced to his African-American roots as a child and the resulting pride in his heritage influenced his paintings’ subjects later in life (The Public Broadcasting Service). His upbringing in Philadelphia facilitated Tanner’s exposure to and ultimate tutelage under famed realist Thomas Eakins (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston). While working with Eakins, Tanner assimilated an appreciation of compositional clarity (The Public Broadcasting Service). As the Civil War had done little more than emancipate slaves, with bitter bigotry still corroding interracial relations, Tanner sought an escape from prejudicial American society (Miller). He found this solace in 1891 when he joined the ranks of expatriate artists in France, continuing his studies at the Académie Julian (Miller).
Afterward, he settled in France, a more tolerant society, painting subjects that amalgamated the lessons of his American upbringing with the traditions his new European home. Unique among his European contemporaries who had gradually veered away from classical themes, Tanner turned perhaps most successfully to religious subject matter (Miller). Prompted by an early exposure to his father’s Christian teachings and an appreciation for works of the Old Masters, most profoundly Rembrandt, Tanner began to paint New Testament subjects in 1894, seeking to emulate the remarkable qualities of Biblical stories (Miller). Loyal to the Christian faith, his paintings render a spiritual devotion common among all religious artists, yet they stray from the canon by weaving novel, modern techniques into the more ritualized portrayals (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston).
With The Resurrection of Lazarus (above), painted in 1896, Henry Ossawa Tanner recounts the mirraculous revitalization of Lazaras (Johnson). This scriptural marvel is attributed to Jesus, who, after learning of Lazuras’s illness, delays his trip to Judea, purposefully arriving four days after the man’s death. Once there, Jesus restore Lazarus’s life, validating his claim of holy lineage. Pivotal to the world’s memory of Jesus Christ, the anecdote has been recalled by countless artists over time. Tanner constructs an arch with the large crowd of spectators, centralizing the work around the body of Lazarus. The artist uses primarily a monochrome palette, in keeping with Rembrandt’s precedent (below), using predominantly natural hues—creamy whites and umber tones (Johnson). Setting the work in an inhospitable environment, with brittle wood and rough outcroppings, Tanner’s piece is far from more common sentimental, idealized religious works (Wilkin). Unlike Rembradt who depicts the herioic savior, Jesus, Tanner paints a compassionate man of the people, setting his Jesus amidst the masses. This too shifts the tone farther from a glorified style. Tanner’s approach is defined by his usage of light. Illuminating Lazarus, the subject of the work, by soaking his white funeral garb in light, the viewer’s eyes are drawn toward the action. Yet, it is Jesus’s white attire, surrounded by his ebony robe and dark beard, that truly glows. This radiance ties the Son of God with his unearthly abilities and draws attention to the purity and benevolence of his heart. Tanner’s experimentation with light is perhaps inspired by Rembrant’s analagous handling of the narrative. Like Tanner, Rembrandt illuminated the virtuous Jesus, yet unlike Tanner, it is the figure’s face and raised arm that radiate light, emphasizing his power. Tanner takes a radically different path, obscuring half of Jesus’s face in shadow. This prevailing darkness illustrates the stark divide between life and death. Yet, the resplendence of the light beckons worshipers onward, offering a path away from the horrors of one’s demise. The eerie tones of The Resurrection of Lazarus won Tanner much acclaim and marked the beginning of a new focus for the artist.
Following Tanner’s early ventures in religious subjects, a patron financed the painter’s journey to the Holy Land (Wilkin). In the year of 1897, Tanner explored Egypt and Palestine (The Philadelphia Museum of Art). While there, the artist became enamored with Middle Eastern motifs, dress, and architecture (Miller). This fascination with the foreign culture is omnipresent in his The Annunciation. As told by Christian scripture, Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel who proclaims that she is to deliver the Son of God. The popular scene is handled in a wholly fresh, creative manner by Tanner. The composition draws upon Arabic design, featuring the arched walls and stone floors typical of Palestine. Mary rests in the corner, staring reverently towards a shaft of light. Tanner’s Mary is of Middle Eastern appearance, and cloaked in a disheveled shawl. In addition, Mary’s head is not crowned by the customary halo (The Philadelphia Museum of Art). The artist refuses to Europeanize or romanticize his heroine, again depicting his subject with purity and simplicity. Tanner instead focuses on the godliness of the angel, who Tanner paints as a column of luminescence. This radical usage of blinding, white light consumes the work, demanding attention. Like a flame, the angel embodies love, hope, and survival. Despite the deep shadows, Mary’s face shines, representing her new knowledge and her strengthened faith. The composition is relatively static, with little movement from Mary. Excluding the soft wrinkles of Mary’s robes, there is a strong emphasis on the horizontal lines. There is equilibrium between both sides of the piece as the shimmering beam draws the eye to the left and Mary, in her intricately painted apparel, draws the eye to the right. This order and sense of stability balances with Tanner’s progressive portrayal of the angel. Breaking with convention, Henry Ossawa Tanner proves that innovations remain possible in the timeworn tradition of Christian artwork.
Henry Ossawa Tanner’s remarkable training and considerable skill afforded him opportunities in the artistic world, despite his race. Most profound is the artist’s adoption of a technique long venerated, the inclusion of light. His dim, often austere, spaces lack the weighty splendor prevalent in pious glorifications of Christianity. Yet the artist’s faith is ubiquitous through the radiant usage of light, representing both optimism and understanding. Although unsentimental, his paintings have an air of mysticism that translates the gravity of his Christian message. Fusing avant-garde artistic forms with traditional subject matter, the artist’s progressive interpretations of biblical stories reinvigorated the field of religious paintings.
Works Cited
“The Annunciation.” 2013. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. 12 March 2013.
< http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/104384.html>.
“Henry Ossawa Tanner.” The Public Broadcasting Service. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/icon/tanner.html>.
“Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit.” 2012. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/past/henry-ossawa-tanner-modern-spirit/>.
Johnson, Ken. “An African-American Painter Who Tried to Transcend Race.” 9 February 2012. The New York Times. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/arts/design/henry-ossawa-tanner-at-pennsylvania-academy-of-fine-arts.html?_r=0>.
Miller, Angela, et al. American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity. London: Prentice Hall, 2008. 335-336.
Wilkin, Karen. “A Reputation Safe and Assured.” 29 February 2012. The Wall Street Journal. 12 March 2013.
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577223133308880116.html>.
Images Cited
Johnson, Ken. “An African-American Painter Who Tried to Transcend Race.” 9 February 2012. The New York Times. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/arts/design/henry-ossawa-tanner-at-pennsylvania-academy-of-fine-arts.html?_r=0>.
“The Raising of Lazarus.” WikiPaintings. 12 March 2013.
< http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/rembrandt/the-raising-of-lazarus-1630>.
The son of a former slave, freed via the Underground Railroad, and an African Methodist Episcopal minister, Henry Ossawa Tanner was introduced to his African-American roots as a child and the resulting pride in his heritage influenced his paintings’ subjects later in life (The Public Broadcasting Service). His upbringing in Philadelphia facilitated Tanner’s exposure to and ultimate tutelage under famed realist Thomas Eakins (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston). While working with Eakins, Tanner assimilated an appreciation of compositional clarity (The Public Broadcasting Service). As the Civil War had done little more than emancipate slaves, with bitter bigotry still corroding interracial relations, Tanner sought an escape from prejudicial American society (Miller). He found this solace in 1891 when he joined the ranks of expatriate artists in France, continuing his studies at the Académie Julian (Miller).
Afterward, he settled in France, a more tolerant society, painting subjects that amalgamated the lessons of his American upbringing with the traditions his new European home. Unique among his European contemporaries who had gradually veered away from classical themes, Tanner turned perhaps most successfully to religious subject matter (Miller). Prompted by an early exposure to his father’s Christian teachings and an appreciation for works of the Old Masters, most profoundly Rembrandt, Tanner began to paint New Testament subjects in 1894, seeking to emulate the remarkable qualities of Biblical stories (Miller). Loyal to the Christian faith, his paintings render a spiritual devotion common among all religious artists, yet they stray from the canon by weaving novel, modern techniques into the more ritualized portrayals (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston).
With The Resurrection of Lazarus (above), painted in 1896, Henry Ossawa Tanner recounts the mirraculous revitalization of Lazaras (Johnson). This scriptural marvel is attributed to Jesus, who, after learning of Lazuras’s illness, delays his trip to Judea, purposefully arriving four days after the man’s death. Once there, Jesus restore Lazarus’s life, validating his claim of holy lineage. Pivotal to the world’s memory of Jesus Christ, the anecdote has been recalled by countless artists over time. Tanner constructs an arch with the large crowd of spectators, centralizing the work around the body of Lazarus. The artist uses primarily a monochrome palette, in keeping with Rembrandt’s precedent (below), using predominantly natural hues—creamy whites and umber tones (Johnson). Setting the work in an inhospitable environment, with brittle wood and rough outcroppings, Tanner’s piece is far from more common sentimental, idealized religious works (Wilkin). Unlike Rembradt who depicts the herioic savior, Jesus, Tanner paints a compassionate man of the people, setting his Jesus amidst the masses. This too shifts the tone farther from a glorified style. Tanner’s approach is defined by his usage of light. Illuminating Lazarus, the subject of the work, by soaking his white funeral garb in light, the viewer’s eyes are drawn toward the action. Yet, it is Jesus’s white attire, surrounded by his ebony robe and dark beard, that truly glows. This radiance ties the Son of God with his unearthly abilities and draws attention to the purity and benevolence of his heart. Tanner’s experimentation with light is perhaps inspired by Rembrant’s analagous handling of the narrative. Like Tanner, Rembrandt illuminated the virtuous Jesus, yet unlike Tanner, it is the figure’s face and raised arm that radiate light, emphasizing his power. Tanner takes a radically different path, obscuring half of Jesus’s face in shadow. This prevailing darkness illustrates the stark divide between life and death. Yet, the resplendence of the light beckons worshipers onward, offering a path away from the horrors of one’s demise. The eerie tones of The Resurrection of Lazarus won Tanner much acclaim and marked the beginning of a new focus for the artist.
Following Tanner’s early ventures in religious subjects, a patron financed the painter’s journey to the Holy Land (Wilkin). In the year of 1897, Tanner explored Egypt and Palestine (The Philadelphia Museum of Art). While there, the artist became enamored with Middle Eastern motifs, dress, and architecture (Miller). This fascination with the foreign culture is omnipresent in his The Annunciation. As told by Christian scripture, Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel who proclaims that she is to deliver the Son of God. The popular scene is handled in a wholly fresh, creative manner by Tanner. The composition draws upon Arabic design, featuring the arched walls and stone floors typical of Palestine. Mary rests in the corner, staring reverently towards a shaft of light. Tanner’s Mary is of Middle Eastern appearance, and cloaked in a disheveled shawl. In addition, Mary’s head is not crowned by the customary halo (The Philadelphia Museum of Art). The artist refuses to Europeanize or romanticize his heroine, again depicting his subject with purity and simplicity. Tanner instead focuses on the godliness of the angel, who Tanner paints as a column of luminescence. This radical usage of blinding, white light consumes the work, demanding attention. Like a flame, the angel embodies love, hope, and survival. Despite the deep shadows, Mary’s face shines, representing her new knowledge and her strengthened faith. The composition is relatively static, with little movement from Mary. Excluding the soft wrinkles of Mary’s robes, there is a strong emphasis on the horizontal lines. There is equilibrium between both sides of the piece as the shimmering beam draws the eye to the left and Mary, in her intricately painted apparel, draws the eye to the right. This order and sense of stability balances with Tanner’s progressive portrayal of the angel. Breaking with convention, Henry Ossawa Tanner proves that innovations remain possible in the timeworn tradition of Christian artwork.
Henry Ossawa Tanner’s remarkable training and considerable skill afforded him opportunities in the artistic world, despite his race. Most profound is the artist’s adoption of a technique long venerated, the inclusion of light. His dim, often austere, spaces lack the weighty splendor prevalent in pious glorifications of Christianity. Yet the artist’s faith is ubiquitous through the radiant usage of light, representing both optimism and understanding. Although unsentimental, his paintings have an air of mysticism that translates the gravity of his Christian message. Fusing avant-garde artistic forms with traditional subject matter, the artist’s progressive interpretations of biblical stories reinvigorated the field of religious paintings.
Works Cited
“The Annunciation.” 2013. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. 12 March 2013.
< http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/104384.html>.
“Henry Ossawa Tanner.” The Public Broadcasting Service. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/icon/tanner.html>.
“Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit.” 2012. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/past/henry-ossawa-tanner-modern-spirit/>.
Johnson, Ken. “An African-American Painter Who Tried to Transcend Race.” 9 February 2012. The New York Times. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/arts/design/henry-ossawa-tanner-at-pennsylvania-academy-of-fine-arts.html?_r=0>.
Miller, Angela, et al. American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity. London: Prentice Hall, 2008. 335-336.
Wilkin, Karen. “A Reputation Safe and Assured.” 29 February 2012. The Wall Street Journal. 12 March 2013.
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577223133308880116.html>.
Images Cited
Johnson, Ken. “An African-American Painter Who Tried to Transcend Race.” 9 February 2012. The New York Times. 12 March 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/arts/design/henry-ossawa-tanner-at-pennsylvania-academy-of-fine-arts.html?_r=0>.
“The Raising of Lazarus.” WikiPaintings. 12 March 2013.
< http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/rembrandt/the-raising-of-lazarus-1630>.