Henry Ossawa Tanner was an American artist who spent much of his career in France. He became the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian and gained acclaim in French artistic circles. His painting Daniel in the Lions' Den was accepted into the 1896 Salon, the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Tanner's Resurrection of Lazarus was purchased by the French government after winning the third-place medal at the 1897 Salon. In 1923, the French government elected Tanner chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
Tanner in 1907 by Frederick Gutekunst
Thomas Eakins, a Portrait of Henry O. Tanner, 1900. Oil on canvas, 24⅛" × 20¼". The Hyde Collection.
Spinning By Firelight, 1894
Gateway, Tangier, 1912, St. Louis Art Museum
African-American art is a broad term describing visual art created by African Americans. The range of art they have created, and are continuing to create, over more than two centuries is as varied as the artists themselves. Some have drawn on cultural traditions in Africa, and other parts of the world, for inspiration. Others have found inspiration in traditional African-American plastic art forms, including basket weaving, pottery, quilting, woodcarving and painting, all of which are sometimes classified as "handicrafts" or "folk art".
Edmonia Lewis was commissioned to do President Grant's portrait, c. 1870.
Augusta Savage with Realization, her WPA Federal Art Project, 1938.
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller was Rodin's protegee, 1910.
Engraving of a chained female slave by Patrick H. Reason, 1835. Often circulated with the caption "Am I not a woman and a sister?"