1187 1187 Henry Ossawa Tanner, N.A. (American/French, 1859‑1937), “Feeding Chickens, African-American Township Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”, ca. 1890s, oil on canvas, abraded signature and date lower left, 14” x 24”. Framed. Provenance: Private collection. Together with a letter of authentication from Rae Alexander-Minter, grand-niece of the artist. [40000/70000] Illustrated "I will preach with my brush." --Henry Ossawa Tanner. Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first African-American artist to achieve international acclaim and success, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, into an educated, middle-class family; the family moved to Philadelphia several years later. His father was a minister - later bishop - of the A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church and his mother had been born into slavery and escaped with her family via the Underground Railroad. Both parents were social activists and educators, and Tanner was raised in an intellectual and religious environment. Deciding upon a career as an artist, initially against his parents' wishes, he began studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia in 1879 - one of the few American institutions which accepted African-American students. While at the Academy, he worked closely with the newly appointed "Professor of Painting and Drawing", Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) and Tanner's years at the Academy were professionally satisfying - Eakin's considered him one of his most promising students. Tanner moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1888, where he set up a photography and art studio; while the venture was not as successful as he had hoped, it led to a teaching post at Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University). Tanner continued to paint, and one of his Georgia landscapes is in the collection of the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia. In 1891, Tanner made his first trip to Paris to attend the Academie Julian where he studied with Jean-Joseph Benjamin Constant (1845-1902) and Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921). He returned to Philadelphia for a short period in 1893, and it was during this time he painted several of his most well-known works, including the iconic "the Banjo Lesson", a sensitive depiction of African American life; his "The Thankful Poor", another such image, was completed the following year. Speaking of the work presented here, Dr. Rae Alexander-Minter, the artist's grand-niece writes: "Of particular interest to me is that this painting has similarities one finds in Tanner's French Breton genre scenes. while the painting under study here depicts African Americans, it demonstrates the artist's level of comfort with ordinary folk involved in their daily routines. Perhaps it is also Tanner's desire to paint African Americans naturalistically. Sadly we have so few extant examples of this genre in Tanner's extensive body of work." Tanner was to spend the rest of his life in France, with brief visits to his native country. He had his debut at the Paris Salon in 1894, received an honorable mention in 1896, and was awarded a third-class medal in 1897. Tanner's reputation was now solidified. While many of his works are religious in subject, in the mid-1890s he produced a small number of paintings representing various aspects of African-American life. These works are all very similar in technique and tone. As Dr. Alexander-Minter writes of the painting offered here: "As I look more closely at the palette of the painting of deep browns, gray, amber, it is reminiscent of the colors Tanner used in the 'Portrait of the Artist's Mother' (1897), 'Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner' (1897) and 'The Young Sabot Maker' (1895). In addition, the palette and brushstrokes are similar to those we see in 'Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City' (ca. 1885)." "Feeding Chickens, African-American Township, Philadelphia Pennsylvania" is an historically significant and rare African American scene by Tanner to be offered at auction. The recipient of numerous prestigious awards, Tanner received the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Lippincott Prize, was named a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1923, and was the first African American made a Full Academician of the National Academy of Design in 1927. In 1899, the Philadelphia Museum of Art's acquisition of one of Tanner's paintings marked the first time an African-American artist was represented in a major American Museum. References: Mathews, Marcia M. Henry Ossawa Tanner - American Artist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994; Winter, Margaret Crumpton and Rhonda Reymond. Henry Ossawa Tanner and W.E.B. DuBois - African American Art and High Culture at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. Post-Bellum, Pre-Harlem: African American Literature and Culture, 1877-1919. Eds. Barbara McCaskill and Caroline Gebhard. New York: New York University Press, 2006, pp. 231-249.
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