Lori Nel Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor of art history, Morgan State University on

The Good Shepherd: Symbolism, Mysticism, and Tanner's Spiritual Conversion

Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at 1:30 pm

Reception 1 - 1:30 pm

Hybrid in-person and online program

The Women's Club of Roland Park, 4500 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21210 & Zoom

According to his son Jesse Tanner, of all the subjects that his father, Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), painted over his long career, his favorite was The Good Shepherd from John 10:11-18. This is not surprising given that Tanner was the son of a bishop and theologian. More than Tanner’s Christian upbringing, this motif encapsulated his desire to represent the “kinship of all humanity.”

Initially, Tanner demonstrated his belief in the unity of people through genre paintings of everyday scenes, whether featuring peasants from Brittany or the hills of North Carolina. Eventually, he abandoned realism in favor of Symbolism. While some post-racial critiques suggest Tanner forsook painting Blacks after moving to France in the 1890s, this talk will examine how Tanner’s conversion to mysticism allowed him to purify his art not by eliminating Black figures, but by combining meaning and form, reconciling opposites such as Black/white, ancient/modern, and occident/orient.

$15 fee for guests and subscribers (no fee for members)

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