Henry O. Tanner at Pennsylvania Academy (1st review)

There is only one reason to see this current exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: because Henry O. Tanner (1859-1937) was an excellent American artist, and we haven't had enough opportunity to savor his work.

Tanner's paintings and drawings of Biblical scenes, landscapes and daily life here and in France (his adopted country) as well as Egypt, Morocco, the Holy Land and Europe— more than 100 works in all— comprise an exhibition that's long overdue.

Tanner, an African American whose father was a college graduate and, ultimately, a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal church, had the luxury of full-time study at the Academy under Thomas Eakins and Thomas Hovenden. The exhibition opens with two early sculptures, including an expressive bust of Tanner's father, and landscape paintings. But these fail to prepare you for the impact of the painting, Lion Licking Its Paw (1886), with its vibrant orange fur, pink curled tongue and watchful eyes viewed up close. This is nature as we've rarely experienced it.

Although Tanner won accolades here, in the U.S. he was always defined by his color. In 1891 he traveled to France and, like so many creative young people, preferred to remain there, where he was labeled solely as an American (and also where life was more fun). As Tanner hobnobbed with artists in Paris, his art became more expressive and individualized. But he kept one foot in both continents.

Shock and awe

For the first time in this country we can view The Resurrection of Lazarus, from the collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. This painting was awarded first prize in the Paris Salon of 1897, a singular honor that entitled Tanner to a guaranteed place in every future Salon exhibition and sealed his reputation.

Tanner portrays this event from an unusual viewpoint that reflects his Academy training; Lazarus is horizontal, still on the ground but with his eyes open and his head raised. Jesus has summoned him back to life. Witnesses to the miracle react with shock, awe and wonder. Their faces, including one with dark skin, glow in a reflected light. We, the viewers, have become part of the crowd.

Like Rembrandt, Tanner individualizes his Biblical paintings. Each person reacts differently, and their expressions run the gamut of human emotions.

Mary sees the light

The Annunciation (1898), from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, shines here in all its glory. A young Mary, seated on her rumpled bed backed by a folding screen, seems mesmerized by the brilliant column of light on the left side of the painting. It's the spiritualized Archangel Gabriel informing her of her destiny.

The entire scene is suffused by this transcendent light, illuminating the moment of conception. The unprepossessing surroundings form a powerful contrast to this miracle. Did the spread of electricity and its powers of illumination inspire this interpretation?

Tanner's travels to the Holy Land and Morocco— often funded by the Philadelphia department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker— are reflected in the architectural elements temporarily installed for this exhibition. As Tanner travels, his palette brightens. He abandons the Academy's warm brown tonality; instead, his paintings now portray an earlier hour or the green of a burgeoning spring season.

Soldiers, black and white

His landscapes now become almost abstract compositions, many in an overwhelming green tonality. Multiple layers of paint create an impenetrable density. The Good Shepherd (1930) is one of his ultimate landscape paintings. Here the steep Atlas Mountains of Morocco thrust into the sky, almost obliterating it and overwhelming the shepherd and flock of sheep, seen below in a ravine.

During World War I Tanner joined the American Red Cross in France and in 1923 was awarded the Chevalier of Legion of Honor by the French government for his service. His war scenes, paintings and drawings of France are intimate evocations of events common to that era. Of special note is A.R.C. Canteen (1918, charcoal on paper), with a line of soldiers waiting their turn for food. Second in line is a black soldier with carefully delineated features.

These paintings and drawings reveal a gifted artist's development from his student days to a new mastery of color and composition that becomes his own unique revelation.♦


To read another review by Andrew Mangravite, click here.
To read another review by Robert Zaller, click here.
To read another comment about Tanner by V Chapman-Smith, click here.
To read a response, click here.
To read a response by Victoria Skelly, click here.