5 Quotes & Sayings By Henry Ossawa Tanner

Henry Ossawa Tanner was born in 1859 in Tennessee. He was a well-known African-American artist best known for his realistic portraits of people of African descent. He had a long and successful career, starting in the 1870s with his commissions for portraits of members of the Hampton Institute, which was founded by Booker T. Washington; of Booker T Read more

Washington; and of W.E.B. Du Bois, an author of The Souls of Black Folk (1903), which is regarded as one of the most important books of the 20th century. Tanner also painted many notable figures of the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes; Nella Larsen; Jean Toomer; Zora Neale Hurston; Countee Cullen; Richard Bruce Nugent; William Wells Brown; Sarah E.

Watkins; and Jessie Fauset.

1
It seemed to me that this might be a great pageant, which would give a chance for a very interesting picture. Henry Ossawa Tanner
2
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. Henry Ossawa Tanner
3
I will preach with my brush. Henry Ossawa Tanner
4
I decided on the spot that I would be an artist, and I assure you, it was no ordinary artist I had in mind. Henry Ossawa Tanner