#black painters

[burntpink]

Exu do Blues em 4 atos, 2023 by Emerson Rocha

[the-cricket-chirps]

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Tenor

1985

[verum-artifex]

👩🏾‍🎨

[neondarby]

I made this! What do you think?

[afterhourstrackthirteen]

by Papay Solomon

[freshthoughts2020]

UNITED

18” x 24”

By

Jaevonn Harris

[rjeldridge]

Detail of “Zangbeto” WIP, 2024

[sostienetati]

Noah Davis (1983-2015)

Pueblo del Rio: Arabesque

Pueblo de Rio: Concerto

[nudeartpluspoetry]

View of Mount Tahoma, later named Mount Rainier--oil on canvas

painting by African American landscape artist Grafton Tyler Brown,

who painted landscapes in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia

[calibabii21]

ngl, haven't painted since I did this in 2018. I wonder how much better I'd do now tho🤔

[burntpink]

dor e glória and dor e glória III, 2023

by Emerson Rocha

[the-cricket-chirps]

Jean-Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol

Untitled, (collaboration no.23)

1984-1985

[instructionsonback]

Purchase on gettothecorner.com

$500 USD

[alleannaharris]

Today's Black History Month illustration is of Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), the first Black painter to gain international acclaim for his depiction of landscapes and biblical themes.

Tanner was born in 1859 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the first of nine children born to Sarah Elizabeth Miller, a formerly enslaved woman who escaped her enslavers via the Underground Railroad, and Benjamin Tucker Tanner, an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Bishop.

His middle name comes from the town Osawatomie, Kansas, where the abolitionist John Brown started his anti-slavery campaign.

When Tanner was young, the Tanner family moved to Philadelphia. While in Philly, he attended the Robert Vaux School, one of the few Black schools that offered a liberal arts education. Despite his father objecting, Tanner decided he wanted to become a painter when he was 13. He began his art career in 1876 by painting harbour scenes, landscapes, and animals from the Philadelphia Zoo.

After self-study, in 1880, he enrolled at Philadelphia’s prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) where he was the only black student. Tanner made many connections among the artists and became a favorite of his teacher Thomas Eakins, one of the most important artists in American art history.

In 1888, Tanner secured a teaching position at Clark University in Atlanta with the help of Joseph C. Hartzell, a bishop from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1890, Hartzell arranged an exhibition of Tanner’s works in Cincinnati, but when none of the paintings sold, Hartzell purchased Tanner’s entire collection.

The money from Hartzell’s purchase allowed Tanner to travel to Paris in 1891 and enroll at the Academy Julian. During this time, he made Paris home because he felt less affected by prejudice.

His greatest early work depicted Black people and tender moments. His most famous painting, “The Banjo Lesson” where an older man was teaching a young boy how to play the banjo was created while visiting family in Philly in 1893.

By 1894, his paintings were critically admired in the US and in Europe. In 1899, he created one of his most famous works, “Nicodemus Visiting Jesus,” which won PAFA’s Lippincott Prize in 1900. Through the rest of his life, he shifted focus to religious scenes and continued to receive praise and honors for his work.

He was named honorary chevalier of the Order of Legion Honor (France’s most distinguished award) in 1923. In 1927, Tanner was made a full academician of the National Academy of design, becoming the first Black person to receive the distinction.

After Tanner’s death in Paris in 1937, his name recognition declined until 1969 when the Smithsonian in Washington DC exhibited a few of his works. This exhibition was the first major solo exhibition of a Black artist in the United States.

In 1991, the Philadelphia Museum of Art assembled a touring exhibition of his work, sparking a new wave of interest.

Side note: The Tanner House is on 2908 W Diamond St in North Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion). It gained recognition as a National Historic Landmark in 1976, but it fell into disrepair. They’re still trying to find a long-term non-profit steward, but the temporary local fiduciary is the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. To donate to the Tanner House Campaign, reach out to the Preservation Alliance.

I’ll be back on Monday with another illustration and story!

[afterhourstrackthirteen]

" Self Reflection In The Restroom.' 2023

by Matthew Eguavoen

[ty-vinci]

Recent project