The Denver star., 1914-08-01
PROMINENT AMONG
WORLDS ARTISTS
Henry 0. Tanners Paintings
Win High Praise {
MASTER Of HIS PROFESSION
Great Interest Shown In Painting BY
Former Pittsburgh Boy, Whose Re-
cent Picture, Jesus at the House Of
Lazarus Created Big Sensation In
Worlds Art Metropolis.

Worlds Art Metropolis.
OF the American artists who are seek
ing fame at the worlds art metropolis,
Paris, 1t has remained for an American
Negro to carry off the prize, says the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
He is a son Of bishop of the Afri-
can Methodist Episcopal church. His
name is Henry o. Tanner. His salon
picture, over which the European crit |
les are enthusiastic, is called Jesus at
the House Of Lazarus"
The old Biblical saw that a prophet
is not without honor but in his own
country has been well borne out In |
the case of Henry o. Tanner. To men-j
ton his name in any assemblage Of ]
American cOnnoisseurs is to receive q i
frank stare of ignorance. To mentionl
his name in an assemblage of Euro
pean artists is to encounter at ONCE
frank acknowledgment that you are !
speaking Of a present day master.
He was born In 1885, For more than
a quarter of a century he has been
painting industrtously, and many of 4
his best canvases are hung in leadingy
museums both here and abroad. Yet
none of the recent books on American
artists more than mention him. Onev
| work of this kind refers to him Incl
dentally in these words: "a picture by
II. o. Tanner, painted with all the
oriental surroundings, but with strong
religious feeling"
This writer says:
"His work is curious technically.
Uy1 hot knovr1odO0 Qn1fdU
and sure Of itself. The weiShty
strokes, which. when seen from near
| by, resemble a veneer Of mahogany,
| evidently come from a flowing and
upctuous brush. Through the thick
paint there plays a soft light which, |
| models the outlines in chiaroecuro."
Another critic said OF him: "dr. Tan
ner Is q dreamer and a worker. Hal
works diligently and with good viii.
| but he produces only two or three can
| vases a year. Because I paint labori- !
| ously,' he said with a charming mod
esty. Ishould rather say .scrupuious-
w. He reflects long upon a subject
until he is permeated with the spirit
| of It. He searches out its intimatel
poetry, at the same time carefully
l SIuUy lu8 pSyCAOAO6ASah oCRSNsS 0A0i
| even after the general effect has been|
established he returns to it again and
again, tirelessly seeking to improved
| upon it. find in his talent some
thing Of the genius Of Rembrandt"
| In striking contrast to the Judgment
of this critic who can liken TannerI
only to the great Rembrandt are the'
things written about the artist BY
American critics. Unable to gainsay
| that his Jesus at the House OF Laza-I
rus is by far the premier among ALL
| the exhibitions Of American artists att
the Paris salon this year one Of themI
can find little moro to say Of the pic
| ture than that the Mary in the picturei
only expresses irritability in her face
and that Martha seems to be bringingI
In dish Of ice cream. This critic pre-
tends to ind many other .''anachron-
isms." He thinks that the interior oil
Lazarus house suggests the nineteenth |
| century more than it does the first,
| that the Lazarus Is a portrait Of the!
artist himself and that the other fig
ures In the picture are portraits Of
modern persons.
| The story Of Tanners life IL within|
itself interesting. He was born in|
Pittsburgh, his father being leading|
Negro ecclesiastic. One afternoon he
was walking with the bishop In
Philadelphia park when he saw an
artist at work painting hillside. He
was then five years old. That night
he took a. piece Of awning from the|
hack of a kitchen door for a canvas
and the back OF an old geography, with
a hole jabbed through 1t for his thumb,
"a a palette. He tried to mix some
colors on the geography back with but
Indifferent success.
he made the acquaintance OF
Ldt~ >r. prominent Philadel-
Q. Il. Sheaf>-. :, whose friendship
phia artist. throus. --~,stted to the
and influence he was ao... = Fl
Philadelphia School Of Fine Ar...
nally, In 1891. after many vicissitudes,
and much living on starvation rations, /
he had accumulated enough money toI
take him to Europe. He started for !,
Paris Jan. 4, 1891.
He lived very frugally In the French I
capital, studying at the Academic Ju- /
lian. He struggled along unnoticedI |
until sketch. very much to his own
surprise. won him prize In an annual
competition. For many years he wasY
confronted by the most disheartening
obstacles. He lived on even less than
had marked the ''starvation time" IN
the United States. He rot typhoid To-
yer and almost disd. After Z bsisf
visit to Philadelphia hs returned 70
Paris. Then he painted his nrst great
picture. "Danlel In The LIONS DeA."
His nAxt great picture was '.TAs j