Top 13 Quotes & Sayings by Henry Ossawa Tanner

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner.
Last updated on November 25, 2024.
Henry Ossawa Tanner

Henry Ossawa Tanner was an American artist and 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.

I believe the Negro blood counts, and counts to my advantage - though it has caused me at times a life of great humiliation and sorrow.
I decided on the spot that I would be an artist, and I assure you, it was no ordinary artist I had in mind.
Many of the artists who have represented Negro life have seen only the comic, ludicrous side of it, and have lacked sympathy with and appreciation for the warm big heart that dwells within such a rough exterior.
It seemed to me that this might be a great pageant, which would give a chance for a very interesting picture. — © Henry Ossawa Tanner
It seemed to me that this might be a great pageant, which would give a chance for a very interesting picture.
My efforts have been to not only put the Biblical incident in the original setting, but at the same time give the human touch which makes the whole world kin and which ever remains the same.
Get it - get it better or get it worse. No middle ground of compromise.
The physical characteristics of the child Jesus will always remain a point of discussion. No artist has ever produced a type, nor ever will, that has in it all that the varying minds of all time will acknowledge as complete.
I will preach with my brush.
My effort has been not only to put the Biblical incident in the original setting... but at the same time give the human touch to convey to my public the reverence and elevation these subjects impart to me.
Many of the artists who have represented Negro life have seen only the comic, the ludicrous side of it, and have lacked sympathy with and appreciation for the warm, big heart that dwells within such a rough exterior.
I believe the Negro blood counts, and counts to my advantage – though it has caused me at times a life of great humiliation and sorrow.
I was extremely timid and to be made to feel that I was not wanted, although in a place where I had every right to be, even months afterwards caused me sometimes weeks of pain. Every time any one of these disagreeable incidents came into my mind, my heart sank, and I was anew tortured by the thought of what I had endured, almost as much as the incident itself.
My effort has been not only to put the Biblical incident in the original setting… but at the same time give the human touch to convey to my public the reverence and elevation these subjects impart to me.
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