by Delaynna Trim, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art Curator
February is Black History month, so let’s talk about a great Black artist, Henry Ossawa Tanner. The MGMoA has one of his works on display, Scene in Cairo. He was one of the first African-American artists to gain international fame. He was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1859. His father was a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and his mother was a former slave. In 1879, he began his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under the direction of Thomas Eakins. He was the only Black student in his class of 100. Growing up with a minister father influenced his art. He became known for his religious paintings.
He moved to Paris in 1891 and only briefly returned to America in 1902. He stayed in Paris because he endured less racism there. He told a magazine writer, “In Paris, no one regards me curiously. I am simply M[onsieur] Tanner, an American artist. Nobody knows or cares what was the complexion of my forebears.”
In 1898, he met Jessie Macauley Olssen, a Swedish-American opera singer. They married a year later and settled in Paris.
In 1923, Tanner was appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, the highest national order of merit in France.
His art spanned many styles including realism, symbolism, impressionism, and
Orientalism. Scene in Cairo would fit in the Orientalism style since it features people and architecture different from Western Europe and America. Orientalism became popular in the 19th century and featured people and architecture from the Middle East and Asia. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, Tanner traveled throughout North Africa. He would have painted Scene in Cairo during one of these trips.
He died in 1937 in Paris.
Tanner's Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City (c. 1885; oil on canvas) hangs in the Green Room at the White House; it is the first painting by an African-American artist to have been purchased for the permanent collection of the White House. It was purchased from Tanner’s grandniece in 1995.
Fr. Gerrer acquired Scene in Cairo in the 1930s. In Fr. Gerrer’s 1942 catalog of the collection for this piece he listed Tanner's various awards and honors, then added “He painted mainly Biblical subjects and his works are represented and admired in most art galleries.”
Black History Freedom Quilt project
Check out www.mgmoa.org/art-projects for more activities including videos on Black History month inspired art projects.
The designs on the freedom quilts were secret messages, helping to guide and protect the slaves on their way to freedom. The patterns told slaves how to get ready to escape, what to do on the trip, and where to go.
Supplies needed:
Colored paper or construction paper
Markers or crayons
Glue/glue sticks
Scissors
1. Cut the colored paper into shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles.
2. Draw designs on the various shapes.
3. Glue the shapes onto one piece of paper to create your quilt.
