Henry Ossawa Tanner

Working in France after 1891, Henry Ossawa Tanner achieved an international reputation largely through his religious paintings. Their deep spirituality reflects Tanner's upbringing as a minister's son as well as the influence of his visits to the Holy Land after 1897.Head bent, gaze intent, hands clasped,The Savior[SAAM, 1983.95.191] is absorbed in contemplation or prayer. The circumstances of the solitary vigil are ambiguous. Has Tanner chosen a particular moment on the mountain, in the Garden of Gethsemane, or just before the Crucifixion? Or has he treated instead the very act of prayer as a means to salvation? Whatever the context, Tanner presents Christ as a man of humble origin rather than as a transcendent, godlike figure. His carefully delineated features and bowed posture create the psychological penetration of a portrait.Based on one of his sketches of Near Eastern men, Tanner's study conveys Christ's timeless humanity, while its sensitivity and strong modeling reveal the artist's admiration for the portraits of his teacher, Thomas Eakins.An expressive realism characterizesThe Savior,reflecting Tanner's mounting interest in the work of French Symbolist painters at the turn of the century. The painting's mottled browns and beiges derive from his training in the French academic tradition; influenced by the Impressionists' light and color, he later abandoned his subdued palette.Although Tanner remained active until 1936, he avoided avant-garde developments after 1900. Nor did he align his expressive style with the efforts of African-American artists during the Harlem Renaissance; believing that he could not fulfill his artistic potential while fighting discrimination in America, he moved to Paris in 1891. Nonetheless, Tanner's universal subject matter and the international dimensions of his career provided inspiration for future African-American artists.Lynda Roscoe HartiganAfrican-American Art: 19th and 20th-Century Selections(brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art)