Day 294- Charles Grafly portrait bust of Henry Ossawa Tanner
April 21, 2022
The title of the sign introducing gallery 766 is "The Cosmopolitan Spirit, 1860-1900," although again, the timeframe is only approximate. The gallery shows works by artists who lived in Europe or traveled widely in other countries. These works include a couple of Orientalist paintings, which seem obligatory in a gallery with this theme. along with a Whistler and a Ryder. The majority of these painters, though, I've never heard of.
One whose name - but little more - I did know is Henry Ossawa Tanner. Tanner, I learn, spent his latter years in France, in part to escape racism in this country. One of his paintings is on display, a "Flight Into Egypt"; the setting Tanner depicts is not the conventional desert scene but a narrow urban alley. According to the placard, in his later years, Tanner turned to Biblical themes, which must have been instilled in him in childhood; his father was a bishop in the A.M.E. Church.
Today's object is a plaster portrait bust of Tanner made by Tanner's friend and fellow student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Academie Julian in Paris. Charles Grafly. Was Grafly also African American? The signage doesn't say. The bust, which measures about 20 inches high, was made in 1896, when Tanner was about 47. If I didn't know that Tanner was Black, I don't think I would guess it from this portrayal. His face is long and narrow, with high cheekbones; he has a big mustache and a small goatee. His hair appears ro be covered by an artist's toque. What's most striking about the bust are the subject's eyes, which are cast down as if in contemplation and give Tanner a sensitive, reflective expression. The bust, according to the placard, was a gift to Tanner. I hope that Tanner liked it as much as I do,
One whose name - but little more - I did know is Henry Ossawa Tanner. Tanner, I learn, spent his latter years in France, in part to escape racism in this country. One of his paintings is on display, a "Flight Into Egypt"; the setting Tanner depicts is not the conventional desert scene but a narrow urban alley. According to the placard, in his later years, Tanner turned to Biblical themes, which must have been instilled in him in childhood; his father was a bishop in the A.M.E. Church.
Today's object is a plaster portrait bust of Tanner made by Tanner's friend and fellow student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Academie Julian in Paris. Charles Grafly. Was Grafly also African American? The signage doesn't say. The bust, which measures about 20 inches high, was made in 1896, when Tanner was about 47. If I didn't know that Tanner was Black, I don't think I would guess it from this portrayal. His face is long and narrow, with high cheekbones; he has a big mustache and a small goatee. His hair appears ro be covered by an artist's toque. What's most striking about the bust are the subject's eyes, which are cast down as if in contemplation and give Tanner a sensitive, reflective expression. The bust, according to the placard, was a gift to Tanner. I hope that Tanner liked it as much as I do,
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