The Banjo Lesson, Henry O. Tanner

   Henry Ossawa Tanner (1959-1837) painted this beautiful image on a return trip to his home state of Pennsylvania in 1893.  He had traveled to Paris in 1891 to study art, and soon made Paris a permanent home.  Tanner is the first African American to gain international fame as an artist.  And, this painting, his most famous, is part of the collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia.  It being the oldest museum dedicated solely to African Americans and U.S. minorities. 
  Light is the key to this warm, sensitive image.  We can almost feel the warmth from the fireplace to our right, and most likely some sunshine lightens the back wall, casting our figures into part shade.  These shadows over the faces creates a little mystery as to their expressions, but the way Tanner has united the two, displays a deep sense of love.
   The composition is wonderful.  Here we have a complementary color harmony of blue and orange, the orange often appearing as a dark brown/black.   Divide the painting into four equal quarters.  Notice how the waist of the man cuts almost through the middle, continued with a line from the back wall.
    But the most important composition technique is the darkness beginning in the bottom left, getting darker moving to the right corner, then a strong diagonal pushes your eye straight up to the upper left.  Look at how important that brown/black jacket is hanging on that wall! 
    Much more can be written and gathered from this image.  Certainly the humble setting (which consumes almost 3/4 of the painting) tells a full story of the circumstances of these two people.   And, can you hear the sounds?  They are certainly there, as the young boy learns to play.
   Make Art a part of your day,  its a beautiful thing to do.