Henry Ossawa Tanner Picture Study Aid and Art Prints
This 24-page Henry Ossawa Tanner Picture Study Aid includes a brief summary of the childhood of African American, Realist painter Henry Ossawa Tanner (1857-1937), a synopsis of seven of his works, a separate file with printable versions of the pieces covered (or professional prints are also available), and a brief discussion about Charlotte Mason’s ideas and methods for implementing picture study.
The World’s Work: The Story of an Artist’s Life
By Henry Ossawa Tanner
Tanner wrote an autobiography for this publication later in his life. I have included part of the text in my Henry Ossawa Tanner Picture Study Aid, but both parts (on pages 11661 and 11769) are also available online. I highly recommend reading this prior to beginning your study on him as it gives a glimpse of his background as well as a wonderful view of the artist himself.
Henry Ossawa Tanner: American Artist
By Marcia M. Mathews
For some background on his family and what life was like for African Americans living in the United States in the 1800s, this book was particularly interesting as it included excerpts from both Henry and his father’s diaries detailing the many struggles and prejudices they faced.
Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dream Comes True
By Faith Ringgold
“The oldest of seven children, Henry graduated from one of the few secondary schools for Black people in Philadelphia before studying under Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Later he went to France, where he had heard Black artists were accepted without prejudice. Indeed, not only were his paintings exhibited every year in the Paris Salon but in 1923, he was made a chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award for an artist. Henry Ossawa Tanner: His Boyhood Dreams Come True is Faith Ringgold’s fifteenth book for children. Her illustrations capture all the joy and passion of her previous stories–including Tar Beach, which has won more than thirty awards, including a Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award.” Ages 6+.
