Top 7 Quotes by Henry Ossawa Tanner

I will preach with my brush.

Brushes

Dewey F. Mosby, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Darrel Sewell, Rae Alexander-Minter, Philadelphia Museum of Art (1991). “Henry Ossawa Tanner”

Many of the artists who have represented Negro life have seen only the comic, the 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

Sympathy, Appreciation, Heart

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Anna O. Marley (2012). “Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit”, p.115, Univ of California Press

Get it - get it better or get it worse. No middle ground of compromise.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Compromise, Middle, Middle Ground

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Anna O. Marley (2012). “Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit”, p.19, Univ of California Press

I believe the Negro blood counts, and counts to my advantage – though it has caused me at times a life of great humiliation and sorrow.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Believe, Blood, Sorrow

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Anna O. Marley (2012). “Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit”, p.139, Univ of California Press

My effort has been not only to put the Biblical incident in the original setting… but at the same time give the human touch to convey to my public the reverence and elevation these subjects impart to me.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Biblical, Giving, Effort

Dewey F. Mosby, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Darrel Sewell, Rae Alexander-Minter, Philadelphia Museum of Art (1991). “Henry Ossawa Tanner”

I was extremely timid and to be made to feel that I was not wanted, although in a place where I had every right to be, even months afterwards caused me sometimes weeks of pain. Every time any one of these disagreeable incidents came into my mind, my heart sank, and I was anew tortured by the thought of what I had endured, almost as much as the incident itself.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Pain, Heart, Mind

Dewey F. Mosby, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Darrel Sewell, Rae Alexander-Minter, Philadelphia Museum of Art (1991). “Henry Ossawa Tanner”

The physical characteristics of the child Jesus will always remain a point of discussion. No artist has ever produced a type, nor ever will, that has in it all that the varying minds of all time will acknowledge as complete.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

Jesus, Children, Artist

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Anna O. Marley (2012). “Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit”, p.138, Univ of California Press