Acclaimed African-American Artist Subject of Lecture at Reyn

Press Room

Acclaimed African-American Artist Subject of Lecture at Reynolda House Museum of American Art

Monday, February 23, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sharyn Turner
336.758.5580
sturner@reynoldahouse.org
or Sarah Mansell
336.758.5524
manselss@reynoldahouse.org

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (February 23, 2009) Reynolda House Museum of American Art will host the first in a series of three lectures about the art and artists in the museum's new exhibition, "American Impressions: Selections from the National Academy Museum" on Tuesday, March 10 at 5:30 p.m.

"Painting in the Lion's Den: The Spiritual Art of Henry Ossawa Tanner" is the title of the talk by guest lecturer Marcus Bruce, professor and chair of the religious studies department at Bates College. He will discuss the biblical scenes and religious imagery that so absorbed this great 19th century African-American artist.

Tanner's painting, "The Miraculous Haul of Fishes," circa 1913–14 can be seen in the "American Impressions" exhibition, on view through June 28.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1859, Tanner was the son of a college-educated teacher and minister who eventually settled in Philadelphia with his wife. Their son's interest in art was stimulated by his study with local art teachers and exposure to numerous art galleries. At 21, he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied with a group of master painters, including Thomas Eakins. Prior to graduation, Tanner left the Academy to move to Atlanta. He opened a shop to sell his drawings and photographs and also taught art classes at Clark College. While in Atlanta, Tanner met Bishop and Mrs. Joseph Crane Hartzell, who became his primary patrons. When a show of his work sold no paintings, they purchased his entire collection, the proceeds of which sponsored his trip to Europe, where he settled in Paris.

At first, Tanner painted genre scenes of African-American or French subjects. The best-known work from that period is "The Banjo Lesson," 1893. Later works focused on biblical scenes and earned him recognition in the Paris Salon. He made several trips to the Holy Land, and his painting, "Resurrection of Lazarus" was purchased by the French government for exhibition, ultimately entering the collection at the Louvre.

Over the years Tanner divided his time between France and the United States, but when he married in 1899 he settled permanently in France. Tanner was made an honorary chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor, France's highest honor, in 1923, and in 1927 he became the first African-American full academician of the National Academy of Design in New York. With his many honors, Tanner was a symbol of hope to other young African-American leaders and artists who often visited him in Paris.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art is one of the nation's premier American art museums, with masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe and Gilbert Stuart among its permanent collection. Affiliated with Wake Forest University, Reynolda House features traveling and original exhibitions, concerts, lectures, classes, film screenings and other events. The museum is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the historic 1917 estate of Katharine Smith Reynolds and her husband, Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Reynolda House and adjacent Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village feature a spectacular public garden, dining, shopping and walking trails. For more information, please visit reynoldahouse.org or call 336.758.5150.

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