Henry Ossawa Tanner was born on 21 June 1859, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. He was known as one of the first African American artists with international acclaim. He was given his middle name in honor of the anti-slavery town Osawatomie. Tanner studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and was taught by the American realist Thomas Eakins. In 1891 he started studies at the French Académie Julian, which influenced a large part of Tanner’s art. He was also part of the American Art Club and traveled to the Middle East where his artwork would also be influenced by Orientalism. Tanner painted in the genres of Religion, Genre, and Landscape paintings. Tanner died on May 25, 1937, while he was sleeping.